MUNICIPAL   ADMINISTRATION 


MUNICIPAL 


ADMINISTRATION 


BY 


JOHN  A.   FAIRLIE,  PH.D. 

ASSISTANT   PROFESSOR  OF  ADMINISTRATIVE  LAW 
UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN 


Jgorfc 
THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

LONDON:    MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 
1910 

All  rights  reserved 


COPTBIGHT,   1901, 

BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.      Published  November,  1901. 
Reprinted  August,  1906  ;  September,  1910. 


NorfaooD  $rtssf 

J.  8.  Cashing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Go. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

MUCH  has  been  written  on  various  aspects  and  problems 
of  municipal  administration,  and  some  brief  general  outlines 
have  also  appeared ;  but  nothing  has  thus  far  been  published 
which  can  claim  to  be  more  than  a  partial  or  an  elementary 
treatment,  as  indeed  the  authors  would  be  the  first  to  admit. 
This  stage  of  fragmentary  writing  has  been  a  necessary  and 
an  important  one  in  developing  the  discussion  and  literary 
treatment  of  a  new  subject  of  large  and  growing  significance. 
It  would  seem,  however,  that  the  time  has  now  come  for  a 
more  comprehensive  and  more  systematic  treatise,  and  it  is 
as  an  attempt  in  this  direction  that  the  writer  makes  bold 
to  present  this  work. 

The  title,  "  Municipal  Administration,"  probably  conveys 
a  general  idea  of  the  subject  to  the  minds  of  readers.  Yet 
such  is  the  vagueness  and  uncertainty  with  which  words  are 
used  that  it  will  be  worth  while  to  make  the  conception 
more  exact  by  some  definition  of  terms.  Administration  is 
a  general  term  with  the  widest  range  of  meaning,  applying 
to  the  management  of  any  kind  of  business.  In  reference 
to  public  affairs,  administration  is  the  detailed  execution  of 
general  policies,  the  application  of  laws.  It  is  to  be  con- 
trasted and  distinguished  from  legislation,  and  is  indeed 
the  work  of  public  officials,  established  and  set  in  operation 
by  legislative  measures.  Municipal  administration  is  that 
branch  of  public  administration  intrusted  to  municipal  offi- 
cials. The  duties  of  such  officials  are  almost  exclusively  of 
an  administrative  rather  than  a  legislative  character;  and 
for  that  reason  the  title  given  is  preferred  to  the  less  defi- 
nite term  "municipal  government." 

It  is  necessary,  further,  to  note  more  carefully  the  scope 
of  the  word  "municipal."  In  English  and  American  law  a. 

30 2735 


yi  PREFACE 

municipality  is  any  subordinate  public  authority  created  by 
the  central  government  and  vested  with  the  legal  rights  of  a 
corporation.  The  term  applies  to  the  local  authorities  in  cities, 
villages,  counties,  special  authorities  such  as  school  and  park 
boards,  and  even  to  incorporated  townships  as  in  Massachu- 
setts. In  this  sense,  municipal  administration  would  include 
the  whole  field  of  local  government.  But  the  local  adminis- 
tration of  public  affairs  in  cities  or  urban  districts  is  so 
strongly  differentiated  from  that  in  rural  districts,  and  is, 
moreover,  so  much  the  more  important,  that,  by  common 
usage,  municipal  is  often  confined  to  urban  or  city  com- 
munities, and  is  so  used  in  this  work.  There  is  indeed  a 
further  restriction  by  which,  where  there  are  several  local 
incorporated  authorities  in  a  city,  only  one  (usually  the 
most  important)  is  called  the  municipal  corporation ;  but 
it  is  impossible  to  recognize  local  variations  of  this  kind, 
and  municipal  will  be  held  to  include  all  of  the  local  public 
authorities  in  a  city. 

These  definitions  show  that  the  book  deals  primarily  with 
the  cities  of  the  world.  But  what  constitutes  a  city  ?  Legal 
definitions  vary  widely  in  different  countries  and  in  the 
different  American  states;  and  the  word  is  often  applied 
to  petty  villages  as  well  as  to  metropolitan  communities. 
Moreover,  the  dictionaries  in  their  attempts  to  express  the 
general  meaning  of  the  word  have  used  phrases  so  vague 
that  they  fail  to  convey  any  definite  idea.  There  are,  in 
fact,  three  essential  elements  which  must  exist  to  form  a 
city,  and  all  of  these  must  be  represented  in  the  definition : 
(1)  the  geographical  fact  of  a  definite  local  area  on  which 
buildings  are  for  the  most  part  compactly  erected ;  (2)  the 
sociological  fact  of  a  large  community  of  people  densely 
settled  on  the  given  area ;  and  (3)  the  political  fact  of  an 
organized  local  authority  or  authorities  controlling  the  pub- 
lic affairs  of  the  community.  Combining  these  elements,  a 
city  may  be  defined  as  "  A  populous  community,  inhabiting 
a  definite,  compactly  built  locality,  and  having  an  organized 
public  authority."  This  statement  includes  all  the  neces- 
sary features  which  go  to  make  up  a  city,  while  omitting 


PREFACE  vii 

the  exact  details  of  legal  definition  which  vary  so  widely. 
Where  necessary  to  establish  a  statistical  standard,  the 
writer  believes  a  minimum  limit  of  twenty  thousand  popu- 
lation is  about  the  figure  at  which  real  urban  conditions 
come  into  existence ;  while  urban  communities  of  over  one 
hundred  thousand  population  may  be  classed  as  great  cities. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  the  form  of  definition  given  empha- 
sizes the  fact  of  population,  which  is  the  most  important 
element  and  the  factor  most  often  meant  when  the  word 
"city"  is  used.  But  the  order  of  phrases  can  be  readily 
rearranged  to  represent  the  secondary  meanings  of  the 
word. 

Cities  are  the  mark  of  civilization  advancing  beyond  the 
stage  of  self-sufficing  agricultural  villages.  The  urban  com- 
munity is  both  product  and  sign  of  the  division  of  labor 
into  agriculture,  commerce,  and  industry,  since  an  essential 
element  of  the  city  as  here  defined  is  the  absence  of  agri- 
culture in  the  city  proper ;  and  hence  the  need  of  trade  in 
agricultural  supplies  to  the  city,  which  cannot  long  exist 
without  a  return  trade  of  city  products  to  the  country. 

The  prime  factors,  too,  in  the  development  of  cities  are  the 
development  of  commerce  and  industry.  It  is  true  some 
cities  have  been  deliberately  planted  for  military,  adminis- 
trative, or  political  reasons ;  but  these  cities  have  no  stable 
basis  or  permanence  as  a  community,  and  can  have  none 
until  they  become  commercial  or  industrial  centres.  A 
purely  political  or  military  city,  supported  by  contributions 
either  from  the  surrounding  country  or  from  outlying  prov- 
inces, may  be  maintained  only  so  long  as  the  army  holds  its 
power  or  the  government  continues  at  that  place. 

The  commercial  and  industrial  city  has  a  much  more  per- 
manent position.  It  obtains  the  sustenance  for  its  inhab- 
itants not  by  forced  contributions,  but  indirectly  from  its 
own  resources  and  activities.  It  thus  has  a  vitality  of 
its  own,  and  may  maintain  itself  for  centuries,  as  have 
Damascus,  Marseilles,  and  Cadiz.  The  economic  bases  of 
city  life  are  not,  however,  altogether  immutable.  The  Otto- 


vili  PREFACE 

man  conquest,  which  closed  the  commercial  routes  from 
Europe  to  the  East,  caused  the  decline  of  Aleppo  and  seri- 
ously affected  the  prosperity  of  Venice.  But  such  cases 
are  rare;  and  the  economic  city  usually  persists  from  age 
to  age. 

It  is  due  to  the  irresistible  tendency  of  modern  industrial 
development  to  mass  population  at  trade  and  manufacturing 
centres  that  the  nineteenth  century,  and  especially  the  latter 
part  of  it,  has  seen  the  constant  enlargements  in  the  area 
and  population  of  former  cities  and  the  appearance  and 
rapid  growth  of  new  cities.  In  all  the  important  countries 
of  the  world  the  rural  district  has  become  a  town ;  the  town 
a  small  city ;  the  small  city  a  large  one ;  the  large  one  a 
metropolis. 

At  each  stage  of  growth  the  need  or  the  opportunity  for 
exercising  new  public  activities  in  order  to  satisfy  local 
wants  has  been  felt,  while  at  the  same  time  progress  in 
technical  efficiency  has  opened  the  way  for  further  additions 
to  the  functions  of  government.  Add  to  this  the  spread  of 
democratic  ideas,  which  has  raised  the  concepts  of  human 
rights  and  human  dignity,  and  has  thus  induced  public 
bodies  to  extend  their  activities  so  as  to  elevate  the  social 
condition  and  the  culture  plane  of  the  lower  classes.  From 
all  of  these  causes  the  scope  of  all  forms  of  public  activity 
has  been  broadened  and  deepened ;  and  especially  within  the 
cities  has  the  work  of  the  municipal  authorities  expanded 
with  stupendous  increments  far  beyond  even  the  startling 
development  of  cities  and  city  population. 

It  is  this  recent  and  significant  development  of  municipal 
activities  which  has  made  the  question  of  municipal  adminis- 
tration one  of  vital  importance,  and  the  study  of  it  a  subject 
worthy  of  the  attention  of  students  of  political  science. 

The  present  work  begins  with  a  historical  survey  of  cities 
and  municipal  government,  treating  briefly  of  ancient  and 
mediaeval  cities  and  more  at  length  of  the  development  dur- 
ing the  nineteenth  century.  From  the  time  of  the  Greek 
city-state,  when  the  city  was  the  sum  and  centre  of  political 


PREFACE  ix 

life,  the  movement  until  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century 
is,  on  the  whole,  one  of  the  growth  of  larger  political  units, 
which  absorb  many  functions  of  the  early  city  and  subordi- 
nate the  city  to  the  state.  But  with  the  recent  develop- 
ment of  urban  communities  and  municipal  activities,  the 
direction  of  the  current  has  changed,  and  cities  have  again 
become  important  factors  in  the  life  of  the  times. 

In  the  second  part  there  is  a  general  survey  of  the  active 
functions  of  municipal  administration.  In  this  discussion 
two  aspects  of  municipal  activity  need  to  be  borne  in  mind. 
In  the  first  place,  the  municipal  authorities  in  many  lines 
are  acting  as  agents  of  the  central  government,  performing 
what  may  be  called  state  functions  of  local  administration. 
In  the  second  place,  the  municipality  acts  as  a  distinctly 
local  corporation  in  serving  the  special  local  needs  of  the 
community.  It  is  not  possible  to  draw  hard  and  fast  lines 
in  classifying  the  various  functions  into  these  groups.  But 
in  the  main  the  municipality  acts  as  agent  of  the  state  in 
reference  to  public  health  and  safety,  the  work  of  charity 
and  education ;  while  the  various  undertakings  described  in 
the  two  chapters  on  municipal  improvements  belong  for  the 
most  part  to  the  domain  of  special  local  functions. 

The  third  part  deals  with  the  problems  of  municipal 
finance;  and  different  chapters  consider  questions  of  ex- 
penditure, debt,  income,  and  finance  administration.  In  the 
fourth  part  the  various  methods  and  problems  of  municipal 
organization  are  discussed,  with  special  reference  to  recent 
tendencies  and  proposed  reforms  in  American  cities. 

No  attempt  is  made  to  deal  with  the  local  politics  of  any 
particular  city ;  nor  in  the  discussion  of  municipal  functions 
can  technical  details  of  the  various  departments  be  given. 
The  book  aims  rather  to  give  a  general  knowledge  of  the 
whole  field  of  municipal  administration  for  those  interested 
in  public  affairs,  and  at  the  same  time  to  form  the  ground- 
work for  more  detailed  investigation  to  those  who  make  this 
a  special  field  either  for  academic  study  or  for  practical 
work. 


X  PREFACE 

It  is  necessary  to  make  clear  the  relation  of  some  parts  of 
the  book  to  other  published  writings.  Part  II  is  to  some 
extent  a  development  from  certain  chapters  which  I  pre- 
pared for  a  monograph  on  Municipal  Functions,  published 
in  Municipal  Affairs  for  December,  1898;  and  considerable 
data  then  used  have  been  incorporated  into  the  present  work. 
A  few  other  portions  have  appeared  in  much  their  present 
form.  Chapter  V,  on  American  Municipal  Development,  is 
revised  from  an  article  in  "  A  Municipal  Program " ;  the 
section  of  Chapter  VIII  on  Police  Administration  appeared 
in  the  Political  Science  Quarterly  for  March,  1901 ;  and 
Chapter  XVI,  on  Finance  Administration,  contains  large 
excerpts  from  a  paper  on  that  subject  read  at  the  meeting 
of  the  National  Municipal  League  at  Rochester,  N.Y.,  in 
May,  1901,  and  published  in  the  proceedings  of  that  meeting. 

The  sources  used  in  the  preparation  of  the  book  are  too 
numerous  for  mention  here.  They  are  indicated  freely  in 
the  bibliographical  references  at  the  beginnings  of  the  chap- 
ters and  in  the  footnotes.  Personal  observation  and  inves- 
tigation have  also  been  made  in  a  number  of  American  and 
European  cities ;  and  for  aid  in  these  researches  my  sincere 
thanks  are  due  to  many  kind  friends  and  public  officials. 

HARVARD  CLUB,  NBW  YORK, 
September  5, 1901. 


CONTENTS 
PART  I 

MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 
CHAPTER  I 

FA0B 

THE  CITIES  OF  ANTIQUITY      ......       •       •        3 

CHAPTER  II 
MEDIEVAL  CITIES     ........       •        .      19 

CHAPTER  HI 
EUROPEAN  CITIES,  15TH-18TH  CENTURIES     .....      32 

CHAPTER  IV 
THE  ENGLISH  BOROUGHS         ........     42 

CHAPTER  V 
MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES      ...     72 

CHAPTER  VI 
FRENCH  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY  SINCE  1789      .....    103 


CHAPTER 

GERMAN  CITIES  IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURT   .        .        .        .114 

zi 


xii  CONTENTS 

PART  II 

MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 
CHAPTER  VIII 

PAGE 

PUBLIC  HEALTH  AND  SAFETY  .......        .    125 

Police  Administration,  Fire  Brigades,  Health  Departments, 
Building  Departments,  Economic  Regulation. 

CHAPTER  IX 

CHARITIES  AND  PROVIDENT  INSTITUTIONS     .....    182 
Poor  Relief,  Pawnshops,  Savings  Banks. 

CHAPTER  X 
EDUCATION     .  ..........    200 

Schools,  Libraries,  Museums. 

CHAPTER  XI 

MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.    I        .......    225    \ 

Streets,  Bridges,  Sewers,  Scavenging,  Baths,  Parks. 


CHAPTER 

MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.    H       .......    270 

Waterworks,  Public  Lighting,  Urban  Transportation,  Docks, 
Markets,  Cemeteries,  Municipal  Ownership. 

PART  III 

MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

CHAPTER  XIH 
MUNICIPAL  EXPENDITURES      .       .       .  .       •       •       .317 

CHAPTER  XTV 
MUNICIPAL  DEBTS  .....    330 


CONTENTS  Xiii 

CHAPTER  XV 

PAGE 

MUNICIPAL  REVENUES 335 

CHAPTER  XVI 
FINANCE  ADMINISTRATION 859 

PART  IV 

MUNICIPAL   ORGANIZATION 

CHAPTER  XVII 
THE  COUNCIL 375» 

CHAPTER  XVHI 
ADMINISTRATIVE  OFFICIALS 399* 

CHAPTER  XIX 
THE  MAYOB 411 ' 

CHAPTER  XX 

i 

PROPOSED  PLANS  OF  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION  ....    422  ^ 


PART   I 
MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 


MUNICIPAL  ADMINISTRATION 

PART  I  — MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 
CHAPTER  I 

THE  CITIES  OF  ANTIQUITY 

Authorities.  —  MASPERO  :  The  Dawn  of  Civilization.  —  CURTIUS  :  History 
of  Greece.  —  GROTE  :  History  of  Greece.  —  SCHOMANN  :  Antiquities  of 
Greece.  —  MANN  :  Ancient  and  Mediaeval  Republics.  —  MOMMSEN  :  The 
History  of  Rome;  Roman  Provinces. — FOWLER:  The  City -State  of 
the  Greeks  and  Romans.  —  LANCIANI  :  Ancient  Rome  in  the  Light  of 
Recent  Discoveries.  —  LANCIANI  :  The  Ruins  and  Excavations  of  Ancient 
Rome.  —  GIBBON  :  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  —  W.  LIEBB- 
NAM  :  Stadteverwaltung  in  romischen  Kaiserreiche. 

ALTHOUGH  a  striking  characteristic  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, the  phenomenon  of  great  cities  is  by  no  means  confined 
to  this  period,  and  such  cities  are  to  be  found  from  the  very 
beginning  of  recorded  history.  In  the  river  valleys  of  the 
Nile  and  the  Euphrates,  where  both  fertile  soil  and  easy 
transportation  were  at  hand,  the  earliest  civilizations  devel- 
oped the  well-known  cities  of  Thebes,  Memphis,  Babylon, 
and  Nineveh,  with  other  important  places,  whose  names  are 
perhaps  not  so  familiar. 

In  her  early  history,  Egypt  was  a  self-sustaining  and  com- 
mercially isolated  country ;  and  there  seem  to  have  been 
no  important  cities  other  than  the  two  political  centres  just 
named — Memphis  and  Thebes.  But  when  in  later  times 
foreign  commerce  and  intercourse  developed  through  the 
influence  of  the  Phoenicians  and  Greeks,  new  cities  arose : 
Kopton  on  the  trade  route  from  the  Sinaitic  peninsula  to 
Libya,  with  Cosseir  on  the  Red  Sea  as  its  shipping  port ; 

3 


4  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

Sais  and  Naucratis '  on  the  Delta  of  the  Nile,  in  connection 
with  the  trade  of  the  Mediterranean. 

Almost  nothing,  however,  is  known  of  what  we  would  call 
municipal  conditions  in  these  cities.  The  centre  of  interest 
in  Egyptian  history  is  the  monuments,  which  were  not  in 
the  cities  and  were  not  municipal  works. 

The  great  Oriental  cities  of  Assyria  and  Babylonia  were 
for  the  most  part  palace  cities,  where  the  royal  residence 
was  the  centre  of  the  whole.  Maspero  names  fifteen  cities 
of  ancient  Chaldea,  in  two  groups,  southern  and  northern. 
The  most  important  of  these  were  Lagash  and  Uru,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Euphrates,  and  Babylon  farther  north.  To 
the  east  of  Chaldea,  Susa,  the  capital  of  the  Elamites,  is  said 
to  have  vied  with  the  richest  cities  of  the  Euphrates,  Uru 
and  Babylon,  in  antiquity  and  magnificence.  As  the  lines 
of  commerce  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Mediterranean  devel- 
oped, Damascus  began  its  important  career,  which  has  con- 
tinued for  so  many  centuries.  Later,  as  the  Phoenicians 
carried  trade  still  farther  west,  their  home  ports  of  Tyre 
and  Sidon  grew  to  be  considerable  cities  ;  while  the  trading 
posts  established  along  the  Black  Sea,  on  the  Mediterranean, 
and  even  on  the  coasts  of  Spain  and  Britain,  laid  the  foun- 
dation for  future  cities  such  as  Paphos  in  Cyprus,  Rhodes, 
Gades  (Tarshish,  Cadiz),  and  Carthage. 

Little  more  can  be  said  of  the  municipal  conditions  in 
these  cities  than  of  the  early  Egyptian  cities.  It  is  known 
that  in  ancient  Tyre  the  water  supply  was  furnished  by  an 
aqueduct  from  the  springs  in  the  mountains,  —  probably  one 
of  the  earliest  instances  of  the  kind.  It  may  be  assumed 
that  in  cities  almost  exclusively  commercial  in  character, 
where  political  institutions  were  undeveloped,  the  range  of 
public  activity  even  for  the  local  needs  of  the  urban  popula- 
tions was  extremely  limited. 

It  was  Greece  that  first  showed  the  possibilities  of  the  city 
in  the  political  sphere.  The  city  here  was  not  merely  a 
trading  post,  or  the  residence  of  the  ruler  of  a  large  area, 
but  the  centre  and  sum  of  political  life.  The  physical  con- 


THE   CITIES   OF   ANTIQUITY  5 

ditions  of  the  country  prevented  for  a  long  time  the  forma- 
tion of  large  empires ;  and  each  city  was  thus  independent 
and  self-ruled.  Athens,  Sparta,  Corinth,  Thebes,  Calchis, 
Phoecea,  each  combined  both  the  economic  and  political  fea- 
tures of  city  life.  Our  word  "  politics,"  indeed,  comes  from 
the  Greek  word  for  city,  and  means  literally  the  public 
affairs  of  the  city. 

But  the  Greek  cities  were  not  alone  those  in  Greece  proper. 
Probably  influenced  by  the  Phoenicians,  the  Greeks  early 
took  to  maritime  employments,  and  more  certainly  imitated 
them  in  founding  trade  cities.  By  the  eighth  century  B.C. 
the  founding  of  Greek  cities  on  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor  and 
the  neighboring  islands  (Miletus,  Ephesus)  had  gone  so  far 
that  the  -/Egean  might  be  regarded  as  a  Greek  sea ;  and  as 
the  stream  of  emigration  and  commerce  progressed  further, 
still  more  new  cities  arose.  Greeks  founded  the  cities  of 
Abydus,  Cyzicus,  and  Synope,  on  the  Dardanelles  and  Sea 
of  Marmora ;  and  thence  along  the  coast  of  the  Black  Sea 
appeared  Trapezus,  Phasis,  Tanais,  and  Obia,  trade  centres 
for  the  products  of  Armenia  and  the  traffic  from  the  great 
northern  rivers,  now  in  Russia.  Other  lines  of  trade  led 
to  Thrace ;  up  the  Adriatic  to  Corcyra  ;  to  the  Italian  main- 
land at  Cumse,  Rhegium  on  the  Straits,  and  other  points  on 
the  Gulf  of  Tarentum ;  to  Sicily  at  Naxos  and  Syracuse ; 
and  finally  to  Marseilles  (600  B.C.). 

These  Greek  colonies  were  not,  like  the  Phoenician  ports, 
simply  trading  posts  with  temporary  settlements ;  but,  like 
the  city-state  in  the  home  country,  were  permanent  cities, 
political  as  well  as  economic  centres.  The  cities  of  Sicily 
and  Southern  Italy  became  a  Greater  Greece  (Magna  Grrce- 
cia)  beyond  the  seas.  And  although  all  the  Greek  cities 
were  related  by  trading  lines,  and  still  more  by  their  com- 
mon civilization  and  common  religion,  yet  each  was  an 
independent  community,  with  a  vigorous  political  life  and 
a  large  sphere  of  public  activity. 

Of  the  Greek  cities,  Athens  is  undoubtedly  not  only  the 
most  important,  but  also  the  most  studied  and  the  best 
known.  We  can  therefore  take  that  city  as  exemplifying 


6  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

the  highest  development  of  municipal  conditions  at  this 
period. 

Like  all  the  other  Greek  cities,  Athens  was  not  a  munici- 
pality, but  a  city-state,  and  there  was  no  distinction  in  public 
activity  between  these  functions  which  we  would  now  call 
municipal  and  those  which  we  would  call  state  or  national. 
For  our  purposes,  however,  the  distinction  needs  to  be  remem- 
bered ;  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  consider  here  the  Athenian 
system  of  judicial,  military,  and  naval  administration,  or  the 
regulation  of  economic  activities.  Of  the  functions  now  con- 
sidered as  properly  municipal,  police  and  sanitary  regulation, 
if  it  existed  at  all,  was  extremely  unimportant,  but  public 
works  were  undertaken  to  a  large  extent,  and  both  charity 
and  education  were  subjects  of  public  action. 

A  public  water  supply  existed  at  Athens  from  an  early 
date,  subterranean  aqueducts  having  been  built  by  the  Pisis- 
tratidae  (527-510  B.C.).  Roads  from  Athens  to  the  surround- 
ing country  were  also  built  by  the  Pisistratidse  with  artistic 
monuments  for  milestones,  bearing  inscriptions  in  hexameter 
and  pentameter.  The  port  of  Piraeus  was  systematically 
laid  out  with  two  main  streets  and  a  large  central  square  for 
business,  the  most  celebrated  example  of  the  kind  in  ancient 
times  ;  the  work  was  done  by  Hippodamus  of  Miletus,  who 
later  laid  out  the  cities  of  Thurii  and  Rhodes.  The  harbors 
and  warehouses  at  the  Piraeus  were  also  owned  by  the  gov- 
ernment, and  dues  or  tolls  charged  for  their  use  by  the  mer- 
chants. There  was  also  a  large  amount  of  public  lands 
regularly  cultivated,  while  the  silver  mines  at  Laurium 
formed  one  of  the  main  resources  of  the  government,  until 
they  were  exhausted  by  the  reckless  system  of  mining 
employed. 

Although  so  many  of  the  sources  of  production  were  under 
public  control,  they  were  not  operated  by  public  officials,  but 
were  regularly  let  out  on  stated  payments  for  longer  or 
shorter  periods  to  private  capitalists  who  worked  them  for 
their  own  advantage,  —  early  examples  of  the  modern  system 
of  municipal  franchises.  There  was  indeed  almost  no  public 
administration.  Not  only  were  the  industrial  enterprises  of 


THE   CITIES   OF  ANTIQUITY  7 

the  government  administered  by  private  capitalists,  but  the 
taxes  also  were  similarly  farmed  out,  and  the  principle  of  per- 
sonal service  by  private  individuals  was  very  largely  used, — 
in  the  choruses  at  the  theatres,  in  the  public  games,  in  the 
judicial  administration ;  and  even  in  military  affairs  the  fur- 
nishing of  ships  of  war  was  a  duty  of  wealthy  citizens. 

The  system  of  public  charities  at  Athens  presents  some 
peculiar  features.  The  most  important  work  of  the  kind 
was  the  distribution  of  imported  grain  to  large  parts  of  the 
population  —  a  system  often  resorted  to  in  other  large  cities 
in  ancient  times,  and  above  all  in  Rome.  Other  aid  was 
given  by  paying  the  poor  for  their  services  in  the  judicial 
administration,  and  furnishing  them  free  seats  at  the  great 
theatrical  exhibitions. 

Education  was  also  under  public  control,  especially  that  of 
young  men  in  their  duties  as  citizens;  and  closely  con- 
nected with  this  was  the  physical  training  of  the  young  men, 
with  a  view  to  military  service.  The  higher  education  of 
culture  and  art  was  promoted  in  connection  with  the  religious 
ceremonies  in  the  theatres  and  temples ;  and  the  results  in  the 
development,  especially  of  the  drama  and  sculpture,  mark  a 
record  of  achievement  which  no  other  people  have  attained. 
It  has  been  suggested,  however,  that  the  lavish  expenditures 
for  the  famous  buildings  on  and  around  the  Acropolis  were 
economically  unsound,  and  helped  to  exhaust  the  material 
energies,  and  thus  aided  the  decline  of  Athens. 

A  word  as  to  Athenian  finances.  The  principal  sources  of 
public  revenue  were :  — 

Revenues  from  public  properties  and  industries  ;  revenues 
from  courts,  which  yielded  a  considerable  net  income  ;  tribute 
from  the  allies ;  customs  on  imports  and  exports ;  octrois, 
duties  collected  at  the  city  gates ;  taxes  on  resident  aliens  ; 
and  in  emergencies,  a  direct  property  tax  on  all  persons 
under  the  protection  of  the  government. 

The  empire  of  Alexander  differed  from  that  of  Persia, 
which  it  supplanted,  in  its  development  of  commerce  and  city 
life.  Alexander  himself  founded  seventy  so-called  cities, 


8  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

thus  recognizing  the  autonomous  Greek  city-community  as 
the  basis  of  his  empire,  in  contrast  to  the  former  village  life 
of  the  East.  These  cities  differed  in  one  respect  from  the 
Greek  cities  of  the  preceding  period:  they  were  not  inde- 
pendent states,  and,  although  with  power  of  internal  self- 
government,  were  subordinate  to  the  empire ;  they  were 
municipalities  rather  than  cities,  although  the  Roman  name 
had  not  yet  appeared.  The  ancient  cities  of  Greece  itself 
were  also  placed  in  the  same  subordination  to  the  larger 
empire. 

No  single  city  could  now  secure  for  itself  the  protection 
from  external  attack  which  was  necessary  to  render  eco- 
nomic progress  possible.  A  more  extensive  form  of  political 
organization  was  necessary ;  and  the  city  was  superseded  by 
the  higher  type  of  political  life.  But  although  no  longer 
the  organ  for  political  and  military  administration,  the 
economic  importance  and  economic  life  was  more  fully 
organized,  and  given  opportunities  to  develop  with  the 
powers  of  local  government. 

The  new  cities  established  by  Alexander  were  deliberately 
planted ;  and  many  were  systematically  laid  out  by  De- 
mocrates  the  architect.  The  same  policy  was  followed  by 
the  successors  of  Alexander  in  the  various  districts  into 
which  his  empire  was  divided.  Under  the  Diadochi  (cir. 
300  B.C.)  there  were  two  hundred  so-called  cities  in  the 
Hellenized  world ;  and  although  most  of  these  were  hardly 
worthy  the  name,  there  were  many  important  places. 

The  two  most  famous  cities  of  this  period  were  Alexandria 
and  Antioch.  Alexandria  was  the  centre  of  the  grain  trade 
from  Egypt,  and  the  emporium  for  products  of  India  and 
Arabia  coming  by  caravan  and  by  sea  from  the  Malabar 
coast  of  Hindostan  to  the  harbors  on  the  Red  Sea  con- 
structed by  the  Ptolemies.  The  most  important  public 
works  at  Alexandria  were  the  harbor  and  mole  with  its 
lighthouses,  and  the  famous  library.  Antioch  also  was  a 
commercial  centre,  for  caravan  trade  from  the  East  via  the 
Euphrates.  Rhodes,  an  old  city,  had  risen  to  large  impor- 
tance, having  succeeded  to  the  naval  supremacy  which 


THE   CITIES   OF  ANTIQUITY  9 

Athens  had  lost;  and  the  harbor  of  Rhodes  ranks  among  the 
greatest  public  works  of  the  time.  The  Greek  colonial  cities 
in  the  Mediterranean  continued  to  be  centres  of  industry 
and  depots  of  commerce ;  and,  like  the  new  cities  were  also 
centres  of  Greek  learning,  science,  and  art,  which  were 
extending  Hellenic  culture  and  civilization  from  Marseilles 
to  Babylon. 

Municipal  development  at  this  period  consists  entirely 
in  the  appearance^  pf  new  cities.  The  public  activities  of 
the  cities  remained  as  they  had  been,  —  the  construction 
of  public  buildings,  harbors,  quays,  bridges,  and  aqueducts 
forming  by  far  the  most  important  functions.  With  all  the 
activity  in  these  directions,  however,  street  paving  seems 
to  have  been  very  exceptional,  and  street  lighting  as  yet 
entirely  unknown.  I  ^ 

THE    ROMAN   PERIOD 

The  history  of  the  expansion  of  Rome  is  the  history  of 
the  conquest  and  foundation  of  a  large  number  of  cities; 
and  in  the  Roman  world  there  was  an  almost  exclusive  pre- 
ponderance of  cities  and  an  absence  of  country  populations 
and  dwellings.  The  relation  of  these  cities  to  the  govern- 
ment at  Rome  at  first  varied  widely.  The  neighboring 
Italian  regions,  which  were  first  acquired,  were  treated 
rather  as  allies  than  as  conquered  districts.  Each  of  the  \ 
allied  cities  was  under  Roman  rule  in  political  and  military 
affairs ;  but  each  was  allowed  to  maintain  its  own  customs, 
and  so  far  as  possible  its  own  constitution.  The  local  magis- 
trates preserved  even  a  considerable  measure  of  judicial 
independence ;  and  on  the  whole  the  communal  autonomy 
involved  much  more  real  freedom  than  had  been  the  case 
in  Greece  after  the  Persian  struggle  made  the  union  of 
Greek  cities  necessary,  for  in  Italy  there  was  no  tribute. 

As  the  Roman  power  extended  beyond  Italy,  the  forms 
of  conquest  became  more  common.  Nevertheless,  the  flour- 
ishing commercial  cities,  both  Greek  and  Phoanician,  thus 
included  in  the  Roman  dominion,  preserved  by  treaty 
many  rights  and  privileges.  In  some  cases,  as  at  Cadiz, 


10  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

Marseilles,  Messina,  and  Athens  (the  civitates  fcederatce)^ 
these  treaties  secured  to  the  cities  a  formal  independence 
and  a  real  self-government.  In  other  cases,  cities  classed 
as  immunes  —  such  as  Utica,  Smyrna,  and  Ephesus  —  were 
free  from  fiscal  burdens.  A  larger  number,  but  mostly  less 
important  places,  did  not  enjoy  self-government,  but  were 
under  the  rule  of  prefects,  and  were  subject  to  the  burdens, 
without  enjoying  the  privileges,  of  Roman  citizens.  Tribute 
was  naturally  continued  from  those  cities  which  had  formerly 
been  subject  to  Carthage  or  Macedon,  and  was  also  required 
from^ther  cities  in  conquered  territory  outside  of  Italy.  In 
still  another  class  were  the  colonies,  or  new  cities,  founded 
to  secure  a  conquered  territory  by  transferring  groups  of 
veteran  soldiers,  to  whom  lands  were  allotted  as  a  reward 
for  their  public  services.  These  new  municipalities  from 
the  first  enjoyed  much  autonomy;  but  the  maintenance  of 
good  government  there  was  considered  a  matter  of  imperial 
concern.  They  were  under  occasional  surveillance,  and  the 
frequent  rescripts  of  the  emperors  on  their  affairs  gradually 
assimilated  divergent  customs. 

These  distinctions  between  cities  gradually  disappeared. 
The  policy  of  granting  the  Roman  franchise  to  the  inhabit- 
ants of  other  cities  than  Rome  was  inaugurated  by  Claudius, 
carried  on  by  succeeding  emperors,  and  finally  culminated  in 
the  notable  edict  of  Caracalla  (211-217  A.D.)  which  conferred 
the  civitas  on  all,  both  Latini  and  peregrini,  under  the  sway 
of  Rome.  With  this  final  step  came  the  abolition  of  the 
exemption  of  citizens  from  taxation,  and  thus  all  cities  were 
placed  on  a  common  basis.  The  Roman  municipal  town,  thus 
evolved,  has  been  defined  in  terms  which  answers  almost  per- 
fectly to  our  present  ideas,  as  "  a  community  of  which  the 
citizens  are  members  of  the  whole  nation,  subject  to  the  same 
burdens,  but  retaining  the  administration  of  law  and  govern- 
ment in  all  local  matters  which  concern  not  the  nation  at 
large."  And  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  close  analogy 
between  the  legal  concept  of  the  Roman  municipality  and 
our  own :  in  the  required  sanction  of  the  State  to  its  exist- 
ence, in  the  power  of  the  majority,  in  its  fictitious  personality, 


THE   CITIES   OF   ANTIQUITY  11 

and  the  consequent  responsibility  before  the  courts  for  the 
obligations  of  its  officers,  and  in  its  property  rights.1 

The  appellation  of  city  was  no  less  vague  in  the  time  of 
Rome  than  it  is  to-day;  and  local  pride  and  the  poverty 
of  language  bestowed  the  same  title  upon  the  metropolis  of 
Rome  and  many  a  petty  village.  Ancient  Italy  is  said  to 
have  had  1200  cities,  Gaul  could  boast  of  an  equal  number, 
Spain  exhibited  a  list  of  360,  Asia  contained  500,  and  even 
Africa  300. 2  But  using  the  word  in  the  stricter  sense  in 
which  it  has  been  defined .  in  these  pages,  the  number  and 
greatness  of  the  cities  in  the  Roman  Empire  are  most  signifi- 
cant. In  the  first  century  after  Christ  several  cities  of  over 
100,000  were  in  existence,  while  Rome  has  been  estimated  at 
from  one  to  two  millions,  and  Alexandria  probably  attained 
half  a  million.  Even  the  latter  figure  was  not  reached  again 
until  the  seventeenth  century  (by  London  and  Paris),  and 
the  million  mark  not  until  the  eighteenth  century.  In  Italy, 
the  splendor  of  ancient  Verona  may  be  traced  in  its  remains  ; 
yet  Verona  was  less  celebrated  than  Aquileia  or  Padua, 
Milan  or  Ravenna.  In  Gaul,  were  Marseilles,  Aries,  Nismes, 
Narbonne,  Toulouse,  Bordeaux,  Autun,  Vienne,  Lyons, 
Langres,  and  Treves,  whose  ancient  condition  was  equal  and 
perhaps  superior,  in  Gibbon's  opinion,  to  that  at  the  time  he 
wrote  (1780).  In  Britain,  York  and  London  were  seats  of 
commerce,  and  Bath  was  celebrated  for  its  medicinal  waters. 
Carthage  had  risen  in  new  splendor  from  its  ashes.  Capua, 
Corinth,  and  other  cities  in  Greece  were  no  mean  places.  In 
Asia  were  such  important  cities  as  Laodicea,  Pergamus, 
Smyrna,  and  Ephesus.  The  capitals  of  Syria  and  Egypt 
(Antioch  and  Alexandria)  held  a  still  superior  rank,  look- 
ing down  with  disdain  on  a  crowd  of  dependent  "cities," 
and  yielding  with  reluctance  to  the  majesty  of  Rome  itself. 

As  Athens  was  taken  as  the  highest  type  of  the  Greek 
city,  so  imperial  Rome  stands  preeminent  among  the  cities  of 
the  Roman  world,  and  a  study  of  its  municipal  aspects  affords 
lessons  of  interest  and  value.  These  show  many  features 

1  Dillon,  Law  of  Municipal  Corporations,  pp.  3,  4. 

2  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  ch.  2. 


12  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

which  correspond  to  those  of  the  large  cities  of  our  present 
day,  thus  demonstrating  that  compact  populous  communities  ^ 
have  special  conditions  and  needs  which  demand  special 
provisions  for  their  health,  safety,  convenience,  and  good 
government.  The  water  supply  of  ancient  Rome  formed  a 
stupendous  series  of  works.1  The  first  aqueduct  was  begun 
as  early  as  312  B.C.,  and  the  final  system  consisted  of  four- 
teen aqueducts,  varying  from  7J  to  59  miles  in  length,  and 
aggregating  359  miles.  Of  this  total  54  miles  were  above 
ground,  the  channel  being  carried  on  magnificent  masonry 
arches,  sometimes  at  a  height  of  a  hundred  feet.  This 
method  of  construction  was  used,  not  because  the  Romans 
did  not  understand  the  principle  of  the  siphon,  but  because 
the  soft  metals  then  in  use  for  pipes  were  not  strong  enough 
for  the  enormous  hydrostatic  pressure  at  the  bottom  of  the 
valleys,  if  the  conduits  followed  the  surface  of  the  earth. 
The  water  supply  system  not  only  included  the  aqueducts, 
but  also  large  dams  and  storage  reservoirs  to  collect  the 
water  in  the  hills.  Drains  and  sewers  were  also  constructed 
through  the  city,  and  the  Cloaca  Maxima,  built  twenty-five 
centuries  ago  through  unstable  marshy  ground,  is  still  in  use, 
and  ranks  among  the  great  triumphs  of  engineering  skill. 

From  early  days  Rome  had  a  body  of  watchmen,  whose 
principal  duty  was  in  combating  fires ;  but  the  system  proved 
entirely  inadequate  to  the  conditions  in  the  time  of  Augustus, 
and  that  emperor  reformed  the  service  and  organized  a  force 
of  seventy-five  hundred  guards,  divided  into  seven  battalions, 
each  with  its  own  headquarters.  These  acted  both  as  a  fire 
brigade  and  a  police  force  ;  but  the  preservation  of  order  and 
the  protection  of  property  continued  to  be  poorly  effected, 
one  great  difficulty  being  the  absence  of  any  system  of  light- 
ing the  streets  at  night.2  The  police  also  regulated  street 
traffic,  and  enforced  the  removal  of  waste  and  the  repair  and 
pavement  of  streets  by  the  property  owners.3  The  early  city 
had  developed  without  public  regulation  of  street  lines  or 

1  Lanciani,  Ancient  Borne,  pp.  52-62. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  206. 

*  Mommsen,  History  of  Rome,  V,  p.  374. 


THE   CITIES   OF  ANTIQUITY  13 

building  construction  ;  but  after  the  burning  of  the  city  by 
Nero  it  was  rebuilt  on  the  plans  made  by  the  imperial  archi- 
tects, Severus  and  Celer,  which  provided  wide  streets  and 
large  squares  where  formerly  had  been  filthy,  densely  built 
quarters.  Under  the  new  regulations  the  line  of  frontage  of 
each  new  building  had  to  be  sanctioned  by  the  authorities, 
and  the  height  of  private  houses  was  limited  to  twice  the 
width  of  the  street.1 

Public  places  of  resort  were  frequent  in  Rome.  At  the 
end  of  the  third  century  A.D.  there  were  eight  campi,  or 
commons,  —  set  aside  mostly  for  foot  races  and  gymnastic 
exercises,  —  eighteen  fora,  or  public  squares,  with  an  aggre- 
gate area  of  twenty-five  acres,  and  about  thirty  parks  or 
gardens,  which,  first  laid  out  by  wealthy  citizens  for  private 
grounds,  had  been  absorbed  by  the  government  by  purchase, 
by  bequest,  or  by  confiscation.  The  most  famous  of  the 
public  squares,  known  as  the  Forum,  was  in  early  days  the 
market-place,  and  its  western  side  was  lined  with  butcher 
shops.  By  the  end  of  the  republic,  however,  this  was  com- 
pletely changed,  and  the  place  had  become  an  exchange  for 
contractors  and  brokers  —  a  prototype  of  Wall  Street.  The 
markets  were  then  to  be  found  elsewhere:  the  porticus  Mi- 
nucia  served  as  a  corn  exchange,  and  the  forum  Olitorum  as 
a  market  for  fresh  vegetables. 2 

Rome  was  also  famous  for  its  public  baths.  Evidently  the 
water  system  did  not  reach  most  of  the  houses  in  Rome;  and 
baths  were  built  for  general  use,  at  first  by  private  specu- 
lators. Agrippa  left  his  thermae  to  the  people,  and  the 
number  of  public  balnea  was  largely  increased  by  succeeding 
emperors.3  At  the  end  of  the  third  century  A.D.  there 
were  eleven  large  public  baths,  besides  over  nine  hundred 
smaller  private  establishments,  with  total  accommodations  for 
over  sixty  thousand  persons  at  one  time.4  These  baths  were 
much  more  than  mere  bathing-places;  they  were  places  of 

1  Lanciani,  Ancient  Borne,  pp.  122-123. 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  74,  80,  94. 

*  Becker,  Gallus,  pp.  390  ff. 

*  Lanciani,  Ancient  Rome,  p.  89. 


14  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

resort  and  amusement,  such  as  our  modern  clubs  and  theatres, 
and  hence  important  factors  in  the  social  life  of  the  city. 

The  great  amphitheatres,  circuses,  and  other  places  of  pub- 
lic amusement  were  also  built,  and  the  spectacular  shows  in 
them  furnished,  by  the  government.  The  Circus  Maxiinus 
alone  could  accommodate  285,000  spectators,  all  comfortably 
seated ;  the  Circus  Flaminius  150,000,  and  the  Coliseum 
87,000.! 

Another  important  work  that  may  be  classed  as  municipal 
was  the  harbor  at  Ostia.  This  was  begun  by  Claudius,  and 
perfected  by  Trajan,  the  latter's  work  including  an  enclosed 
inner  harbor  with  18  feet  depth  of  water,  with  quays  2156 
yards  long,  and  warehouses  aggregating  17,500  feet  in 
length.  There  were  also  public  warehouses  in  Rome  for 
storing  the  grain  imported  by  the  government.2 

This  importation  and  the  distribution  of  grain  was  the 
principal  government  work  of  poor  relief.  At  first  under- 
taken to  meet  special  emergencies,  in  later  times  this  public 
gratuity  was  a  regular  service,  which  reached  enormous 
dimensions.  Toward  the  end  of  the  empire,  public  ovens 
were  erected,  and  daily  allowances  of  bread  were  given  in 
place  of  the  monthly  distributions  of  grain.  Special  pro- 
visions were  also  made  by  the  government  for  the  importation 
of  supplies  of  oil,  wines,  and  other  luxuries,  which  were  given 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Rome  on  very  easy  and  liberal  terms. 
So  far  did  this  government  aid  go  that  the  poorer  citizens  of 
Rome  were  almost  exempted  from  labor.3 

There  do  not  seem  to  have  been  any  government  schools 
in  Rome.  There  were,  however,  a  number  of  large  libraries. 
The  first  was  built  and  opened  717  A.U.C.,  and  by  the  time 
of  Trajan  there  were  six  public  libraries,  besides  many  pri- 
vate libraries.  The  total  number  of  volumes  has  been  esti- 
mated at  from  400,000  to  700,000.* 

In  the   early  days   Rome,  like   other  Italian  cities,  had 

1  Lanciani,  op.  cit.,  p.  216. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  238-240. 

*  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall,  chs.  17,  31. 

*  Lanciani,  op.  cit.,  p.  184. 


THE  CITIES  OF  ANTIQUITY  15 

t 

followed  the  Greek  methods  of  public  administration,  de- 
veloping, however,  in  the  magnitude  and  complexity  of  the 
transactions.  There  was  at  first  no  tribute  to  be  farmed,  as 
at  Athens  ;  but  the  duty  of  collecting  rents  from  the  public 
domain  was  regularly  put  up  at  auction.  Ships  and  military 
supplies  were  furnished  by  army  and  navy  contractors.  And 
the  Appian  Way,  the  aqueducts,  and  other  public  works  were 
constructed  by  contract.  The  tenure  of  the  city  magistrates 
was  so  short  that  there  was  no  other  way  in  which  such 
works  could  be  satisfactorily  organized  and  carried  out  than 
by  letting  them  to  private  capitalists.1  But  as  the  city 
developed,  mismanagement  and  corruption  became  frequent. 
Under  the  empire,  however,  there  was  a  radical  change  in 
the  system  of  administration,  which  was  not  the  least  im- 
portant of  the  changes  in  the  governmental  system  at  that 
time.  Augustus  organized  an  imperial  administrative  ser- 
vice which  did  away  with  the  contractors,  not  only  at  Rome, 
but  for  all  of  the  public  works  of  the  empire  ;  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  public  works  and  buildings  in  Rome 
were  constructed  under  this  regime  of  direct  public  admin- 
istration. 

The  other  large  cities  closely  followed  Rome  in  the  nature 
of  their  municipal  activities.  Amphitheatres,  theatres,  tem- 
ples, porticos,  arches,  baths,  aqueducts,  drainage  systems, 
all  conducive  to  the  health,  devotion,  and  pleasure  of  the 
citizens,  were  to  be  found  throughout  the  empire ;  and  while 
these  did  not  in  every  case  represent  municipal  activity,  they 
were  all  intended  for  public  benefit.  Even  in  Rome  the 
greater  number  and  most  conspicuous  buildings  (as  the  Coli- 
seum, the  Baths  of  Titus,  the  Temples  of  Peace,  the  Forum 
of  Trajan)  seem  to  have  been  the  work  of  the  emperors  in 
a  personal  rather  than  governmental  way ;  and  in  various 
provincial  cities  many  edifices  were  erected  by  private  indi- 
viduals. But  there  were  also  many  instances  of  distinctly 
municipal  action.  The  Coliseum  at  Rome  was  almost  imme- 
diately duplicated  on  a  smaller  scale  by  edifices  of  the  same 
design  erected  at  the  expense  of  the  cities  of  Capua  and 

1  Cunningham,  Western  Civilization,  ch.  2. 


16  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

Verona.  The  great  bridge  of  Alcantara  was  thrown  over 
the  Tagus  by  a  few  Lusitanian  communities.  The  aqueducts 
of  Spoleto,  Metz,  and  Segovia  were  works  of  no  mean  sort, 
surpassed  only  by  the  preeminence  of  those  at  Rome.1  At 
Antioch  and  Alexandria  the  water  supply  was  distributed  to 
the  separate  houses  and  shops,2  which  appears  to  be  more 
than  was  done  in  Rome.  Antioch  also  had  eighteen  district 
baths,  and  is  famous  as  the  only  city  of  antiquity  of  which 
we  have  positive  information  that  the  streets  were  lit  at 
night, — although  even  in  this  case  it  is  not  known  what 
were  the  means  employed.  A  large  number  of  cities  had 
elaborate  systems  of  sewers ;  Cologne,  for  example,  in  this 
respect  and  in  its  water  supply  had  reached  a  point  not 
regained  until  the  nineteenth  century.3  In  most  large  cities 
there  were  regularly  paved  streets,  but  this  work  was  prob- 
ably done  by  the  property  owners,  perhaps  under  pressure 
from  the  municipal  authorities. 

The  outlay  for  public  works  of  these  sorts  comprised  the 
principal  expenditure  of  the  Roman  municipalities.  Other 
important  items  were  the  expenses  of  public  amusements 
and  of  quartering  soldiers.  Probably  some  poor  relief  was 
given,  as  at  Rome ;  but  there  was  no  organized  system  of 
charities,  no  municipal  hospitals,  and  no  public  schools.  The 
revenues  of  the  municipalities  were  derived  very  largely 
from  municipal  property  —  lands,  fisheries,  mines,  quarries, 
water  rents,  and  other  public  works.  There  were  also 
municipal  tariffs,  and  receipts  from  fines,  and  fees  collected 
from  persons  elected  to  office,  while  work  was  often  exe- 
cuted by  municipal  slaves. 

There  was  little  popular  influence  in  the  government  of 
these  municipalities.  There  was  a  municipal  senate  or  coun- 
cil, which  directed  the  administration  and  also  acted  as  local 
legislature.  This  council  varied  in  number  in  different 
cities,  but  one  hundred  members  was  a  usual  number.  The 
councillors  were  chosen  for  life,  except  that  they  might  be 

1  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall,  ch.  2. 

2  Mommsen,  Roman  Provinces,  II,  141,  185. 

8  Liebenam,    Stadteverwaltung  in  romischen  Kaiserreiche. 


THE  CITIES  OF  ANTIQUITY  17 

removed  at  quinquennial  revisions  of  the  list.  Former  mag- 
istrates were  ex  officio  members  and  formed  a  predominant 
part  of  the  councils.1 

From  early  in  the  second  century  the  centralizing  tenden- 
cies of  the  imperial  government  began  to  curtail  the  auton- 
omy of  some  important  municipalities,  and  step  by  step  these 
tendencies  developed  until  the  central  government  gained  com- 
plete control  of  the  municipal  towns.  Extravagance,  incom- 
petence, and  corruption  in  the  municipal  governments  opened 
the  way  for  this  development.  The  earliest  signs  of  it  are 
found  in  the  occasional  appointment,  by  the  emperor,  in 
special  circumstances,  of  a  curator,  or  financial  overseer,  of  a 
certain  city  to  regulate  expenditure,  to  prevent  extravagance 
and  misappropriation  of  funds,  and  to  put  the  finances  of  the 
city  on  a  sound  basis.  At  first  these  officers  were  commonly 
Roman  citizens  and  men  of  experience,  who  ranked  far 
above  the  municipal  magistrates;  they  were  regularly  se- 
lected from  a  different  city,  and  did  not  take  up  residence 
in  the  city  in  which  they  acted.  By  the  third  century  the 
curator  had  become  an  ordinary  and  regular  official  in  many 
cities,  selected  from  among  those  citizens  who  had  already 
held  office,  sometimes  directly  by  the  emperor,  but  in  other 
cases  by  the  municipal  senate,  which  was  becoming  more  and 
more  a  mere  instrument  for  executing  the  will  of  the  central 
government.  In  the  fourth  century  the  curatores  appear  as 
the  keepers  of  the  lists  and  valuations  of  property  of  the 
different  classes ;  and  it  is  clear  that  they  steadily  encroach 
on  the  powers  of  the  supreme  board  of  magistrates,  taking 
the  entire  management  of  the  finances,  property,  and  public 
works  of  the  city,  deciding  questions  between  the  state  and 
any  individual  citizen,  and  becoming,  with  the  municipal 
senate,  the  means  by  which  the  central  government  con- 
trolled and  taxed  the  cities.2 

The  recognition  of  the  Christian  Church  by  Constantino 
led  to  further  important  changes  in  municipal  government, 

1  Liebenam,    Stddteverwaltung  in  romischen  Kaiserreiche. 

2  Mommsen,  Eoman  Provinces,  I,  302 ;  W.  M.  Kamsay,  Cities  and  Bish- 
oprics of  Phrygia,  II,  pp.  369-370. 


18  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

which  developed  more  fully  after  the  downfall  of  the  empire. 
Before  the  action  of  Constantine  the  Christian  clergy  had 
been  only  private  persons ;  they  now  became  important 
magistrates.  In  many  places  where  the  Christian  religion 
was  dominant,  the  civil  municipality,  finding  the  responsi- 
bility of  government  too  great  in  the  period  of  declining 
prosperity  which  had  already  begun,  handed  over  to  the 
Church  the  temples  and  even  the  law  courts  and  basilicas  ; 
and  the  various  public  buildings  were  transferred  and  adapted 
to  Christian  uses.  As  time  went  on,  in  many  cities  the 
office  of  curator,  which  was  compulsory,  gratuitous,  and  costly 
to  the  holder,  came  to  be  filled  usually  by  the  bishop  of  the 
city.  Thus  the  bishop  of  each  city  with  his  clergy  took 
charge  of  all  public  affairs ;  the  municipal  senates  had  lost 
their  authority,  and  the  clergy  took  their  place.1 

1  Kitchin,  History  of  France,  I,  51-63. 


CHAPTER  II 

MEDIAEVAL  CITIES 

Authorities.  —  EMERTON:    Mediaeval  Europe,  ch.  15.  —  HALLAM  :   Middle 
Ages,  note  to  ch.  2,  ch.  4. —  MARTIN  :  Histoire  de  France,  Bk.  19,  passim. 

—  THIERRY:  Lettres  sur  1'histoire  de  France,  Nos.  13-24.  —  THIERRY: 
Essai  sur  1'histoire  des  Tiers  Etat. —  GIRY  :  Documents  sur  les  relations 
de  la  royaute*  avec  les  villes  en  France,  1180-1314.  — FLACH  :  Les  origines 
de  1'ancienne  France. — LUCHAIRE  :  Manuel  des  institutions  fran^aise. 

—  LUCHAIRE  :  Les  communes  franchise  a  l'6poque  des  Capetiens  directes. 

—  HEGEL  :  Geschichte  der  Stfidteverfassung  von  Italien.  —  HEGEL  :  Stfidte 
und    Gilden    der    germanischen    Volker    im    Mittelalter. —  MAURER  : 
Geschichte    der    Stadteverfassung    in    Deutschland.  —  KALLSEN  :    Die 
deutschen  Stadte  im  Mittelalter.  —  GIERKE  :  Das  deutsche  Genossen- 
schaf  tsrecht.  —  SOHM  :  Die  Entstehung  des  deutschen  Stfidtewesens.  — 
VON  BULOW  :  Der  Ursprung  der  deutschen  Stadteverfassung.  —  ASHLEY  : 
In  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  X,  359. — DE  CALONNE  :  La  vie 
municipale  au  XVe  siecle. 

THE  Germanic  invasions  which  led  to  the  downfall  of  the 
Western  Roman  Empire  mark  also  a  serious  retrogression 
in  city  life  throughout  Western  and  Southern  Europe.  In 
Northern  Gaul,  Rhsetia,  and  Noricum  there  were  large  areas 
where  Roman  traditions  retained  but  a  feeble  influence  ; 
and  the  cities  of  Great  Britain  ceased  to  exist  as  centres  of 
social  life.  Many  of  these  towns  were  dependent  for  their 
prosperity  on  commerce  ;  they  had  been  depots  where  goods 
were  collected  for  exchange,  or  whence  corn  was  shipped  to 
Rome  ;  and  the  interruption  of  their  commerce  was  fatal  to 
their  existence.  Others,  which  had  been  centres  of  manu- 
factures, no  longer  found  opportunities  for  procuring  materials 
or  disposing  of  their  products.  The  economic  basis  of  city 
life  was  destroyed,  or  even  at  best  served  only  to  maintain  a 
greatly  diminished  population.  The  administration  of  mu- 
nicipal affairs  in  the  cities  fell  most  generally  to  the  control 
of  the  Church.  The  movement  which  had  begun  in  the  time 

19 


20  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

of  Constantine  now  became  general.  The  civil  municipal 
officers  sank  into  insignificance,  while  the  bishops  and  clergy 
succeeded  to  their  powers.  The  codes  of  Theodosius  and 
Justinian  contain  innumerable  edicts  placing  the  manage- 
ment of  municipal  affairs  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy  ;  and 
the  ecclesiastical  municipal  system  thus  developed  was  the 
prevailing  type  during  the  early  Middle  Ages.1 

In  Southern  Gaul,  Spain,  and  Italy  some  of  the  old  munici- 
palities survived  the  storm  and  maintained  the  traditions 
of  the  Roman  period.  But  they  were  few  and  far  between, 
and  their  municipal  life  was  on  a  much  more  contracted 
scale  than  heretofore. 

These  movements  did  not,  however,  directly  affect  the  cities 
of  the  East.  Constantinople,  Damascus,  and  Alexandria  re- 
mained important  places.  After  the  rise  of  the  Mahometan 
and  Arab  power,  new  cities  of  importance  appeared,  in  con- 
nection with  the  development  of  trade.  The  capitals,  Bag- 
dad and  Cairo,  were  the  largest  and  most  famous  ;  Bassorah 
on  the  Persian  Gulf,  Trebizond  on  the  Black  Sea,  and  Samar- 
cand  on  the  route  to  China  were  all  considerable  towns. 
And  in  Spain,  whither  the  Arab  power  extended,  the  cities 
of  Toledo,  Cordova,  and  Granada  arose  into  prominence. 
Cordova,  the  capital  of  the  Spanish  caliphate,  was  said  to  have 
in  the  tenth  century  200,000  houses,  600  mosques,  80  schools, 
and  300  baths.2 

ITALIAN    CITIES 

Beginning  in  the  eleventh  century,  we  find  a  revival  of 
city  life  throughout  Southern  and  Central  Europe,  and  though 
on  a  much  smaller  scale  than  the  great  cities  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  this  movement  played  an  important  part  in  the  larger 
political  history  of  the  time.  This  revival  of  city  life  was 
due  in  considerable  degree  to  the  commercial  development 
resulting  from  the  contact  of  the  East  and  West  in  the  Cru-. 
sades.  The  Italian  towns  furnished  ships  to  the  Crusades, 
established  commercial  ports  in  the  new  Latin  principalities 

i  Guizot,    Civilization  in  Europe,  pp.  52-53. 
*  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall,  ch.  61. 


MEDIEVAL   CITIES  21 

in  Syria,  by  degrees  supplanted  the  Greek  traders  in  Con- 
stantinople, and  developed  trade  with  China  via  the  Black 
Sea,  the  Russian  rivers,  and  Samarcand,  and  also  with 
the  East  India  spice  islands  through  Alexandria.  The 
ascendancy  among  the  Italian  towns  in  this  trade  was  first 
held  by  Pisa  ;  but  toward  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century 
this  was  wrested  by  Genoa,  although  Pisa  continued  an  im- 
portant city  until  1406,  when  the  place  was  purchased  by 
Florence,  and  the  policy  of  the  latter  was  to  promote  the 
development  of  Leghorn  as  its  port.  Meanwhile  Venice 
was  contesting  with  Genoa  for  the  position  of  supremacy, 
which  it  finally  gained.  The  Venetian  trade  was  not  only 
with  the  East,  but  also  by  land  to  the  German  cities,  and 
westward  by  water  to  Lisbon,  to  England,  and  to  the  low 
countries. 

Related  to  these  South  European  currents  of  trade  were 
several  important  ports  in  France — Marseilles,  Montpellier, 
Aigues-Mortes,  and  Barcelona  in  Catalonia  (Spain).  These 
commercial  cities  were  also  centres  of  industry,  —  the  south- 
ern French  towns  for  the  manufacture  of  woollen  goods, 
Italian  cities  for  silk  manufacture,  which  also  promoted  the 
development  of  cities  off  the  coast,  such  as  Lucca  and  Flor- 
ence. Other  Italian  cities  of  importance  were  Bologna, 
Padua,  Brescia,  Modena,  and  Sienna. 

Along  with  the  development  of  population  in  these  centres 
cajne  the  revival  of  cities  as  local  communities,  which  gradu- 
ally won  a  position  outside  of  the  feudal  system  of  the  time, 
and  in  many  places  revived  practically  the  city-state  of  earlier 
history.  The  earliest  mediaeval  artisans  were,  like  the  agri- 
cultural laborers,  serfs,  but  one  stage  above  the  true  slave. 
Step  by  step,  these  artisans  organized  themselves  into  gilds 
which  dealt  with  the  feudal  lord  as  a  body;  and  by  combining 
these  artisan  gilds  with  associations  of  merchants,  gradually 
local  communal  organizations  were  perfected,  independent  of 
the  feudal  power. 

The  type  of  government  first  evolved  throughout  North- 
ern Italy  was  that  known  as  the  consular,  first  instituted  at 
Milan  about  1093,  and  at  Genoa  in  1100  A.D.  The  executive 


22  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

officers  were  known  as  consuls  —  generally  twelve  in  each 
city;  by  the  side  of  these  were  officials  known  as  judices 
or  sapientes,  forming  a  council,  and  below  these  stood  the 
parlamentum,  or  general  assembly  of  all  full  citizens.  The 
basis  for  this  organization  was  the  merchant  and  artisan 
gilds. 

During  the  contest  between  the  Italian  cities  and  the 
emperors,  whenever  the  latter  gained  possession  of  a  city  he 
appointed  a  single  governor  known  as  the  podesta  ;  and  from 
this  time  the  other  cities  seemed  to  find  an  advantage  in  the 
single  executive,  and  in  place  of  consuls  elected  a  podesta, 
who  was  regularly  a  stranger,  chosen  for  a  short  time  (one 
year  or  six  months).  In  these  latter  cases,  however,  the 
podesta  was  limited  by  two  councils,  and  the  parlamentum 
was  retained  for  cases  of  special  importance. 

The  typical  city  for  this  process  of  development  is  Milan, 
but  with  minor  local  differences  it  holds  good  also  for  the 
other  cities  of  Lombardy,  Tuscany,  and  Romagna.  In  Flor- 
ence and  the  cities  of  Central  Italy  the  gilds  assumed  a  more 
outspoken  political  character,  and  gained  exclusive  control 
over  the  government.  In  Venice,  however,  —  an  old  Roman 
community  largely  exempt  from  Germanic  influences,  —  the 
aristocratic  element  always  maintained  the  upper  hand,  and 
the  "Closing  of  the  Grand  Council"  in  1297  definitely  fixed 
the  select  list  of  families  into  whose  hands  alone  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  republic  was  to  rest.  In  the  other  Italian 
cities,  after  the  thirteenth  century,  there  was  a  gradual  rise 
to  power  within  the  democracies  of  a  new  aristocracy  based 
upon  certain  well-marked  families.  From  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury some  one  of  the  great  families  in  each  community  forced 
its  way  to  leadership,  and  these  finally  became  the  petty  mon- 
archs  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries. 

It  would  be  easy  to  go  into  further  detail  in  the  study  of 
the  organization  of  government  in  these  cities,  and  to  note 
their  part  in  the  political  history  of  the  time,  especially  as 
the  internal  undertakings  of  the  cities  were  of  much  less 
importance  than  has  been  already  noted  in  ancient  cities. 
These  mediaeval  Italian  cities  never  attained  the  dimensions 


MEDIEVAL   CITIES  26 

of  the  largest  cities,  —  Florence,  for  example,  at  the  height 
of  its  power  did  not  have  over  150,000  population.  But  we 
are  here  concerned  only  with  their  municipal  affairs. 

The  principal  local  public  work  in  the  early  period  was  the  - 
construction  of  walls,  ramparts,  and  fortifications  for  defen- 
sive purposes  in  the  military  struggles  ;  and  these  walls,  by 
making  it  possible  for  the  city  to  hold  its  own  against  attack, 
aided  in  the  future  *  development  of  the  city.  And  as  the 
cities  grew  beyond  the  old  walls,  new  walls  had  to  be  con- 
structed. Thus  the  first  walls  of  Milan  were  built  in  900, 
and  extended  walls  were  made  in  1183. 

During  the  twelfth  century  Pisa  built  her  cathedral ; 
Milan  undertook  irrigation  works  which  permanently  en- 
riched the  soil  of  Lombardy  ;  and  in  other  cities  ports  for 
the  development  of  water  commerce,  and  roads,  were  pro- 
vided. By  the  fourteenth  century  the  growth  of  the  cities 
in  population,  extent,  and  wealth  brought  about  the  ampli- 
fication of  streets  and  public  places.  In  Venice  the  canals 
were  deepened  and  wooden  bridges  replaced  with  stone 
structures.  The  first  stone  bridge  there  was  built  in  1360 ; 
the  famous  Rialto  was  not  built  in  stone  until  1591.  The 
Milan  town  hall,  built  in  1415,  was  one  of  the  earliest  public 
buildings  of  note  ;  and  it  was  followed  during  the  next  hun- 
dred years  by  many  public  buildings  in  other  cities. 

Outside  of  public  works,  municipal  functions  developed 
only  to  a  very  limited  degree.  There  were  small  bodies  of 
night  watchmen,  while  the  military  forces  of  the  cities  could 
also  be  used  for  purposes  of  internal  police.  Regulations  to 
prevent  fires  were  established,  but  evidently  no  organized 
fire  brigades.  There  were  some  municipal  institutions  for 
the  relief  of  the  poor,  but  ecclesiastical  charities  continued 
to  be  the  most  important.  The  following  items  from  the 
budget  of  Florence  for  the  year  1366  will  illustrate  the 
status  of  municipal  finance  in  these  Italian  cities:1  — 

1  Larouse,  Encyclopedic  Universelle,  Article  "  Commune." 


24  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

RECEIPTS 

Octrois  on  merchandise 90,200  florins. 

Octrois  on  wines 59,300      " 

Taxes  on  country  districts 30,100      " 

Salt  tax 14,450      « 

Confiscated  property  of  rebels  and  exiles       .        .        .  7,000      " 

Tax  on  money-lenders 3,000      " 

Tax  on  contracts     ........  11,000      " 

Tax  on  slaughter-houses         .        .        .              •  .        .  19,400      " 

Tax  on  layers 4,050      " 

Tax  on  grain  and  mills 4,250      " 

Tax  on  citizens  chosen  as  podestas  in  other  cities          .  3,500      " 

Tax  on  houses 5,500      " 

Total 300,000      " 

EXPENDITURES 

Salary  of  podesta  and  household 15,240  livres. 

Salary  of  captain  of  the  guard        .....  5,880      " 

Salary  of  sheriff  (executeur  de  justice)     ....  4,900      " 

Salary  of  mounted  guard 26,040      " 

Salary  of  six  hundred  night  watchmen  ....  10,800      " 

Ambassadors 15,500      " 

Military  guard  in  fortresses 12,400      " 

Total  ordinary  expenditures 121,270      " 

The  total  of  ordinary  expenditures  equals  39,119  florins. 

The  balance  of  the  revenues  were  expended  for  extraor- 
dinary purposes,  in  which  are  included  expenditures  for 
walls,  bridges,  churches,  and  other  public  works. 


SPAIN   AND   FRANCE 

In  Spain,  the  municipal  movement  began  even  before  that 
in  Italy,  and  developed  along  independent  lines.  As  early 
as  1020,  the  city  of  Leon  received  a  charter  of  incorporation; 
and  this  was  soon  followed  by  charters  to  other  important 
urban  communities  in  Castile,  Leon,  and  Aragon.^  These 
charters  generally  granted  to  the  citizens  the  right  of  elect- 
ing their  own  magistrates  and  a  council  for  the  regulation 
of  municipal  affairs.  A  large  extent  of  territory  was  in- 
cluded in  the  jurisdiction  of  each  city,  embracing  other 
towns  and  villages;  and  private  estates  were  also  granted 


MEDIAEVAL  CITIES  25 

to  the  municipalities  for  the  support  of  the  magistrates  and 
other  public  expenses.  There  was,  however,  in  every  city  a 
governor  appointed  by  the  king,  who  received  the  usual 
tribute,  and  controlled  the  police  and  fortified  places.  This 
municipal  system  prevailed  for  over  two  hundred  years ;  but 
during  the  fourteenth  century  the  government  of  the  Span- 
ish cities  was  brought  under  the  direct  control  of  the  crown. 

The  cities  in  what  is  now  Southern  France  followed  the 
same  general  development  as  those  in  Italy,  except  that  the 
podesta  does  not  appear  so  frequently.  Early  in  the  twelfth 
century  the  consular  system  is  found  in  the  Provence  cities 
of  Aries,  Marseilles,  and  Avignon ;  and  from  there  spread 
west  and  north  to  Beziers,  Montpellier,  Toulouse,  Narbonne, 
and  other  cities.  But  none  of  these  cities  attained  to  the 
material  prosperity  and  development  of  the  Italian  cities; 
and  all  were  destined  to  succumb  eventually  to  the  centraliz- 
ing influences  of  the  French  monarchy. 

In  Northern  France  economic  conditions  did  not  lead  to 
the  development  of  such  important  cities  as  in  Southern 
Europe.  But  the  inroads  of  the  Northmen  in  the  ninth 
century  had  driven  men  to  seek  the  shelter  of  town  walls, 
and  during  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  there  is  a 
marked  increase  in  the  material  prosperity  of  the  towns, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  great  movement  for  self-government, 
known  in  history  as  the  rise  of  the  communes.  In  some 
towns,  such  as  St.  Quentin,  Cambrai,  and  Laon,  a  governing 
nucleus  existed  in  the  maire  and  echevins,  officials  dating 
from  the  Carolingian  times ;  in  others,  the  trade  associations 
or  gilds  of  merchants  formed  the  basis  for  communal  or- 
ganization ;  while  at  still  other  places,  such  as  Poitiers, 
Mantes,  and  Chateauneuf,  the  commune  grew  out  of  a 
religious  society.  But  in  all  cases  the  result  was  the  same  : 
smaller  unions  within  the  town  led  to  the  emancipation  of 
the  town  itself  from  the  feudal  overlord.1 

Most  often,  however,  the  independence  was  only  partial. 
In  the  villes  affranchis,  for  instance,  the  seignorial  lord 
retained  the  right  to  try,  fine,  and  hang  the  inhabitants,  but 

1  Kitchin,  History  of  France,  I,  281. 


26  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

received  a  fixed  sum  in  lieu  of  the  feudal  dues  and  corvSe 
formerly  levied  on  the  individuals  in  the  community.  Most 
of  the  towns  in  Normandy,  Maine,  and  Poitou  were  gov- 
erned by  the  Etablissements  du  Rouen,  a  constitution  granted 
by  Henry  II  of  England,  which  left  the  choice  of  the  maire 
to  the  crown.  A  large  number  of  places  had  the  charter  of 
Baumont,  which  granted  only  a  semi-independence,  as  did 
also  the  Vexin  charters.  In  other  places  there  was  a  regu- 
larly elected  magistracy  for  administrative  work,  but  no 
judicial  system  except  that  of  the  seigneur.  The  full- 
fledged  commune,  however,  had  still  larger  autonomy,  and 
had  judicial  as  well  as  financial  and  administrative  indepen- 
dence. The  most  important  cases  of  this  sort  were  Beau- 
vais,  Lille,  Dijon,  Noyon,  Laon,  Rheims,  and  Lyons.  But  in 
every  case  there  was  a  superior  to  whom  certain  duties  were 
owed,  and  none  of  the  French  communes  reached  the  politi- 
cal independence  of  the  Italian  and  German  free  cities. 

The  communal  movement  was  favored  by  the  antagonisms 
between  the  nobles  and  the  clergy,  the  former  being  more 
needy  and  less  jealous  of  their  rights,  and  so  the  more  will- 
ing to  sell  a  charter  of  privileges.  The  kings  of  France 
were  in  part  friendly,  in  part  hostile.  They  were  glad  to 
see  communal  charters  granted  where  they  would  lessen  the 
power  of  some  great  noble  or  cleric,  but  took  care  not  to 
grant  any  in  their  own  domain  lands.  Thus  in  Paris  the 
first  street  paving  (1180)  and  the  wall  around  the  city 
(1190)  were  constructed  under  direct  orders  from  the  king, 
Philip  Augustus.  During  the  thirteenth  century  the  Paris 
water  merchants'  gild  was  granted  important  powers,  and 
until  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  provost  of 
the  merchants  had  under  his  control  the  administration 
of  the  principal  municipal  affairs,  —  the  fortifications,  gates, 
night  watch,  streets,  wharves,  bridges,  and  water  supply;  — 
but  after  the  death  of  Etienne  Marcel  (1358),  a  large  share 
of  these  matters  was  transferred  to  the  royal  provost  of 
Paris. 

During  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  too,  many 
of  the  communes  became  subject  to  the  crown.  The  gov- 


MEDIEVAL  CITIES  27 

ernment  of  many  places  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  oligar- 
chies, which  oppressed  the  lower  classes  and  squandered  the 
municipal  finances,  while  not  a  few  communes  were  dis- 
tracted by  riots  and  bloodshed.  The  growth  of  the  royal 
power  during  this  period  made  the  king  the  immediate  over- 
lord of  many  communes ;  and  under  the  disturbed  condi- 
tions royal  interference  was  often  invited,  and  often  imposed 
without  invitation.  Charters  were  surrendered  to  the  king, 
constitutions  reformed  from  Paris,  and  municipal  debts  ex- 
tinguished by  taxes  levied  by  royal  officers.1 

THE   GERMAN   FREE   CITIES 

Before  the  tenth  century  there  were  very  few  large  cities 
in  Germany,  and  the  small  urban  centres  —  whether  dating 
from  Roman  times,  or  of  later  origin  —  were  within  the  imme- 
diate jurisdiction  of  some  bishop  or  duke.  But,  contempora- 
neously with  the  movements  just  noted  in  Italy,  France,  and 
Spain,  the  German  cities  gained  their  independence  from 
feudal  authority,  and  at  the  same  time  began  their  rapid 
development  in  material  prosperity.  This  material  develop- 
ment was  in  part  due  to  the  same  commercial  movement  fol- 
lowing the  Crusades  which  resulted  in  the  rise  of  the  Italian 
cities;  but  there  was  also  a  local  industrial  development 
which  promoted  the  growth  of  some  cities,  while  others 
were  the  outcome  in  large  measure  of  a  commerce  entirely 
distinct  from  the  Mediterranean  Levant  trade,  —  namely, 
the  trade  with  the  Baltic  countries  in  grain,  timber,  and 
naval  stores. 

The  South  German  cities  were  ranged  in  three  tiers. 
Farthest  to  the  south  were  the  Alpine  towns :  Berne,  Basel, 
Zurich,  Constance,  Innsbruck,  where  besides  the  carrying 
trade  there  was  a  thriving  linen  manufacture,  and  Salzburg, 
the  great  source  of  salt.  A  middle  tier  of  towns  lay  along  the 
Danube  :  Regensburg,  Ulm,  Augsburg,  and  Vienna  were  the 
most  important.  The  greatest  of  these  in  the  later  Mid- 
dle Ages  was  Augsburg,  which  was  the  centre  of  the  linen 

1  Kitchin,  History  of  France,  I,  358. 


28  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

and  woollen  industry,  and  also  the  home  of  large  banking 
firms.  Farther  north,  the  principal  places  were  Nuremberg 
and  Frankfort-on-the-Main.  Nuremberg  was  a  strong  rival 
to  Augsburg  for  preeminence,  its  prosperity  being  due  mainly 
to  the  artistic  metal  industries,  such  as  engraving,  die-cut- 
ting, and  carving.  Frankfort  was  the  seat  of  a  great  fair, 
which  brought  together  traders  from  all  parts  of  Germany. 
In  the  north  there  were  also  three  groups  of  German  cities: 
along  the  Rhine,  in  Saxony,  and  on  the  shores  of  the  Bal- 
tic. The  principal  Rhenish  towns  were  Strasburg,  Mainz, 
Cologne,  Dordrecht,  and,  most  important  of  all,  Bruges, 
which  had  a  population  of  180,000 ;  the  leading  Saxon 
towns  were  Magdeburg,  Leipzig,  and  Breslau ;  and  along 
the  Baltic  the  most  important  cities  were  Lubeck,  Danzig, 
Bergen,  Novgorod,  and  Wisbay.  In  the  fourteenth  century 
Lubeck  had  a  population  of  80,000,  or  double  that  in  1870, 
and  larger  than  it  has  at  the  present  time. 

These  German  cities  were  much  more  successful  than  the 
French  communes  in  securing  and  retaining  their  emancipa- 
tion from  feudal  lords  and  their  self-government  —  that 
is,  government  through  their  trade  organizations.  During 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  the  struggle  between 
the  cities  on  the  one  hand  and  the  bishops  and  dukes  on  the 
other  hand  was  at  its  height,  ending  in  the  success  of  the 
cities.  The  cities  within  the  empire  then  remained  subject 
only  to  the  vague  and  meaningless  supremacy  of  the  emperor, 
while  those  outside  of  the  empire  were  also  practically  inde- 
pendent. All  of  the  important  cities  were,  however,  united 
by  alliances  and  treaties  with  other  cities.  The  most  impor- 
tant of  these  unions  was  the  Hanseatic  League,  embracing  the 
cities  of  North  Germany  and  the  Baltic  region.  This  was  a 
commercial  federation  with  a  central  council,  armed  forces, 
and  a  common  treasury  to  which  each  city  was  required  to 
contribute.  To  this  extent  the  German  cities  did  not  have 
complete  independence.  But  in  their  internal  affairs  each 
city  was  autonomous  ;  the  scope  of  their  jurisdiction  included 
judicial  administration  and  the  regulation  of  commerce,  so 
that  the  "free  city"  lacked  but  little  of  the  sovereign 


MEDIAEVAL   CITIES  29 

Authority  possessed  by  the  city-states  of  Italy  and  the 
ancient  world. 

Of  their  internal  —  what  we  should  now  call  their  munici- 
pal —  affairs,  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  important  was  the 
management  of  public  markets  and  fairs.  Regensburg  had 
a  market  as  early  as  926,  and  Cologne  had  a  provision  market 
by  the  latter  part  of  the  same  century.  The  privilege  of 
holding  the  Leipzig  fairs  has  belonged  to  the  town  council 
since  the  twelfth  century,  and  many  German  cities  can  trace 
their  public  markets  back  to  the  thirteenth  century.  Often 
the  city  owned  open  agricultural  fields  in  the  surrounding 
country,  which  were  allotted  to  the  peasants  as  in  the  rural 
towns. 

The  development  of  the  cities  is  shown  by  the  construction 
in  many  places  during  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centu- 
ries of  large  town  halls,  many  of  which  are  still  in  existence. 
In  some  cases  there  were  also  public  storehouses  belonging 
to  the  municipality.  One  almost  universal  institution  was 
the  public  baths.  Baths  in  private  houses  were  as  yet  almost 
unknown ;  but  these  public  institutions,  although  primitive 
and  crude  compared  with  the  magnificent  establishments  in 
the  time  of  imperial  Rome,  were  significant  instances  of 
municipal  activity. 

At  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  Lubeck  had  a  bath- 
house on  almost  every  street ;  in  Ulm  at  the  close  of  the 
Middle  Ages  there  were  eleven  public  bath-houses,  in 
Nuremberg  twelve,  in  Frankfort  at  least  fifteen,  and  in 
Vienna  thirty.  A  school  ordinance  of  Nabbing  decreed  that 
the  school  children  be  taken  to  the  baths  in  the  middle  of 
the  week,  because  on  Saturdays  they  were  monopolized  by  the 
adults.1 

Water  supply  was  probably  under  public  control,  but  there 
is  no  evidence  of  any  extensive  works  being  constructed  at 
this  period.  In  most  cities  the  only  street  paving  and  clean- 
ing was  that  secured  by  ordinances  requiring  property  owners 
to  pave  and  clean  the  streets  before  their  premises  ;  but  at 
Bruges  and  Ghent,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  there  are  mu- 

1  Janssen,  History  of  the  German  People,  II,  34. 


30  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

nicipal  accounts  for  paving  the  principal  streets.  Usually  the 
streets  were  badly  paved,  full  of  holes,  poorly  cleaned,  and 
in  the  business  sections  covered  with  merchandise.  Even 
the  alignment  of  streets  was  for  a  long  time  not  subject  to 
control,  and  the  width  varied  according  to  the  pleasure  of 
the  property  owners  in  constructing  their  buildings.  Ordi- 
nances regulating  the  construction  of  buildings  date  from  the 
fourteenth  century.  Fires  were  frequent  and  disastrous, 
sometimes  destroying  entire  cities  ;  yet  the  only  attempt  to 
organize  a  fire  brigade  was  by  ordinances  naming  certain 
persons  to  act  as  firemen.  Thus,  in  Cologne,  thirteen  car- 
penters, thirteen  smiths,  and  thirteen  roof  coverers  were 
named  to  act  in  this  capacity.  Watch  duty  was  required  of 
citizens,  and  there  was  no  regular  police  force  until  the  fif- 
teenth century,  when  organized  police  were  first  established 
at  Basel  (1421)  and  Vienna.  Augsburg  and  Vienna,  and 
probably  other  cities,  had  municipal  postal  services  as  early 
as  the  fourteenth  century.1 

The  principal  field  of  municipal  legislation  was  the  regula- 
tion of  trade  and  industry,  each  city  enacting  rules  as  to 
prices,  quality,  weights  and  measures,  importation  and  ex- 
portation. It  was  an  age  of  municipal  tariffs,  and  municipal 
control  of  all  economic  activity.  Police  regulation  was  also 
minute  and  extensive,  and  even  attempted  to  control  personal 
expenditure.2 

During  the  early  Middle  Ages  the  care  of  the  poor,  the 
infirm,  the  sick,  and  dependent  children  was  entirely  under 
Church  control.  But  during  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 

1  Maurer,  II,  passim. 

2  For  example,  in  1485,  the  Council  of  Regensburg,  wishing  to  lessen  grow- 
ing extravagance,  made  the  following  rules  with  regard  to  dress :  "  The  dis- 
tinguished wives  and  daughters  of  burghers  shall  be  allowed  eight  dresses, 
six  long  cloaks,  three  dancing  dresses,  and  one  plaited  mantle  having  three 
sets  of  sleeves  of  velvet,  brocade,  or  silk,  two  pearl  hair  bands  not  costing 
more  than  twelve  florins,  a  tiara  of  gold  and  pearls  worth  five  florins,  not 
more  than  three  veils  costing  eight  florins  each,  a  clasp  not  having  more  than 
one  ounce  of  gold,  silk  fringe  to  their  dresses,  but  not  gold  or  pearl,  a  pearl 
necklace  not  costing  more  than  five  florins,  a  pearl  stomacher  worth  twelve 
florins,  two  rows  of  pearls  around  the  sleeves  at  five  florins  per  ounce,  a  gold 
chain  and  pendant  worth  fifteen  florins,  and  a  necklace  worth  twenty  florins." 


MEDIAEVAL   CITIES  31 

centuries  many  hospitals  were  constructed,  or  their  adminis- 
tration assumed  by  the  municipal  authorities,  and  city  phy- 
sicians were  appointed.  The  Church  also  had  a  monopoly  of 
education  under  the  mediaeval  system.  Municipal  Latin 
schools  were,  however,  founded  as  early  as  the  thirteenth 
century  ;  and  the  first  common  schools  were  established  by 
some  German  cities  in  the  fourteenth  century.  But,  while 
the  funds  and  the  initiative  for  these  municipal  schools  came 
from  the  city  authorities,  the  teaching  and  management 
remained  iri  the  hands  of  the  clergy. 

The  central  organ  of  government  in  the  German  cities  was 
the  town  council ;  and  while  its  constitution  varied  somewhat 
with  the  size  and  wealth  of  the  cities,  there  were  certain  main 
resemblances.  There  was  usually  a  large  council  for  delib- 
eration, and  a  smaller  council  of  from  twelve  to  twenty-four 
members  which  directed  the  details  of  administration.  Both 
councils  were  composed  of  members  from  the  various  trade 
and  artisan  gilds  in  the  city,  merchants  ordinarily  filling  the 
chief  places.  There  were  also  two  or  four  burgomasters  in 
each  city,  who  presided  over  the  council  meetings,  but  had 
no  special  privileges  or  influence  in  the  government.1  There 
was  a  broad  popular  basis  to  the  government ;  and  while  the 
administration  may  be  called  aristocratic,  it  was  a  local 
aristocracy  whose  interests  were  dependent  on  the  prosperity 
of  their  cities. 

1  Zimmern,  The  Hanse  Cities. 


CHAPTER   III 

EUROPEAN  CITIES  FROM  THE  FIFTEENTH  TO  THE 
EIGHTEENTH  CENTURIES 

Authorities.  —  MOTLEY  :  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic  ;  History  of  the  United 
Netherlands.  —  BLOK  :  History  of  the  People  of  the  Netherlands.  — 
MARTIN  :  Histoire  de  France.  —  BLOCK  :  Administration  de  la  ville  de 
Paris.  —  ASHLEY  :  Economic  History. 

FOLLOWING  the  age  of  the  mediaeval  cities,  there  is  a  long 
period  when  cities  and  city  life  are  of  much  less  compara- 
tive importance.  Several  causes  served  to  bring  about  this 
change  in  the  situation.  The  development  of  strong  national 
governments  in  France,  Spain,  and  England  deprived  the 
cities  of  much  political  power  they  had  possessed  during  the 
Middle  Ages.  Even  in  Germany  the  principalities,  step  by 
step,  gained  in  importance,  and  the  cities  were  placed  in  a 
subordinate  position.  Of  especial  importance  to  the  mate- 
rial welfare  of  the  cities  was  the  change  in  the  control  of 
economic  affairs  from  the  cities  to  the  larger  governmental 
authorities ;  and  with  this  came  the  abolition  of  privileges 
and  regulations  which  had  helped  to  build  up  the  cities  at 
the  expense  of  the  country  districts.  Perhaps  these  changes 
served  to  promote  an  important  development  in  economic 
methods  at  this  time  which  also  retarded  city  growth.  This 
was  the  transition  from  the  "  gild  system  "  of  manufacturing 
to  the  "  domestic  system."  Under  the  former,  manufactur- 
ing industries  had  been  mainly  confined  to  the  cities ;  under 
the  new  system,  they  were  carried  on  very  largely  in  coun- 
try districts.  Another  factor  was  the  almost  constant  state 
of  war  throughout  Europe,  which  interrupted  land  com- 
merce, and  led  to  the  destruction  of  important  cities. 

While  these  causes  combined  to  produce  a  marked  decline 
in  the  importance  of  cities  dependent  on  manufactures  and 

32 


EUROPEAN  CITIES  33 

inland  commerce,  other  forces  produced  significant  changes 
in  the  cities  dependent  on  sea-borne  commerce.  The  prin- 
cipal factors  in  this  development  were  the  discovery  of 
America  and  the  new  sea  route  to  the  East  Indies.  These 
events  vastly  increased  the  carrying  trade  of  the  world,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  completely  recast  the  trade  routes  and  the 
commercial  centres  of  the  world.  Thus,  the  commercial 
cities  of  Italy,  already  affected  by  the  action  of  the  Turks 
in  closing  the  old  trade  routes  to  the  East,  were  not  situated 
so  as  to  gain  the  advantage  of  the  new  routes,  and  their 
prosperity  declined.  The  cities  of  South  Germany,  which 
had  prospered  by  the  trade  via  Italy,  also  suffered  by  these 
trade  changes.  New  centres  arose  for  the  new  routes  to  the 
East  Indies  and  the  new  trade  to  America,  mainly  in  the 
countries  which  had  taken  the  lead  in  the  explorations  and 
in  opening  the  new  routes. 

For  the  Spanish  trade,  the  old  Roman  city  of  Seville  was 
given  the  monopoly  as  a  port  of  entry  and  exit.  This  was 
sufficient  to  give  it  a  commanding  position  among  the  com- 
mercial cities,  and  this  position  it  retained  until  the  silting 
up  of  the  Guadalquivir  River,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  Cadiz  then  became  the  Spanish  port, 
and  the  leading  city  of  Spain,  holding  the  monopoly  of  trade 
from  1720  until  1765.  For  a  considerable  period,  however, 
the  acquisitions  of  Portugal  were  of  even  greater  economic 
value  than  those  of  Spain ;  and  the  Portuguese  trade,  cen- 
tring at  Lisbon,  made  that  place  the  most  important  com- 
mercial city  of  the  time,  and  it  remained  one  of  the  great 
cities  of  the  world  down  to  the  eighteenth  century. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  cities  in  the 
Netherlands  came  to  the  front.  These  had  gained  their 
political  freedom  in  the  same  period  that  marks  the  rise 
of  the  Free  Cities  in  Germany,  and,  in  most  cases,  their 
charters  date  from  the  twelfth  century.1  At  the  time  when 
the  Hanseatic  League  was  most  flourishing,  Bruges  and 
Ghent  were  the  principal  cities  in  the  low  countries ;  but 

1  Dates  of  charters  :  Ypres,  1174  ;  Orchies,  1175  ;  Ghent,  1176 ;  Oudenarde, 
1177  ;  Bruges,  1180. 

D 


34  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

while  most  of  the  Hanse  cities  were  now  going  backward, 
the  Dutch  and  Flemish  cities  were  becoming  more  impor- 
tant. It  has  been  estimated  that  as  early  as  1500  one-half 
of  the  population  in  the  province  of  Holland  lived  in  towns. 
One  of  the  early  factors  in  this  development  was  the  appear- 
ance in  the  North  Sea  of  the  herring  shoals,  which  formerly 
visited  the  Baltic,  thus  opening  up  a  new  industry  to  the 
people  of  the  low  countries.  And  with  their  experience  in 
the  sea  fisheries,  the  Dutch  were  later  able  to  take  the  active 
part  in  exploration,  in  founding  colonies,  and  in  the  carry- 
ing trade,  which  secured  their  prosperity  during  the  seven- 
teenth century. 

The  Dutch  cities,  like  those  of  Germany  and  Italy,  con- 
trolled extensive  districts  and  many  villages;  and  their 
autonomy  was  so  complete  that  they  were  not  simply  munici- 
palities, but  petty  states.  During  the  sixteenth  century  the 
schouts  appointed  by  the  feudal  courts  exercised  some 
control  over  the  composition  of  the  municipal  governments.1 
But  the  government  of  the  United  Netherlands,  formed  in 
the  struggle  with  Spain  and  retained  after  independence  was 
won,  was  controlled  by  the  cities.  In  several  provinces  the 
States-General  was  mainly  or  wholly  composed  of  representa- 
tives from  the  cities.  In  the  internal  government  of  the 
cities  there  was  still  much  use  made  of  the  gilds ;  but  the 
artisan  gilds,  as  well  as  the  merchants'  associations,  shared 
in  the  authority,  and  the  mass  of  privileges  was  so  large  and 
the  shareholders  so  numerous  that  practically  the  cities  were 
republics.2 

Special  mention  may  be  made  of  the  most  important  cities. 
During  a  large  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  leading  city 
in  the  low  countries  was  Antwerp.  This  had  gained  much 
of  the  trade  of  Bruges,  when,  toward  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  the  river  to  that  city  became  too  shallow  for  sea- 
going vessels ;  and  in  the  sixteenth  century,  through  the 
influence  of  the  Spanish  government,  Antwerp  also  became 
the  Northern  centre  for  trade  with  the  East  Indies  and 

1  Blok,  History  of  the  People  of  the  Netherlands,  II,  350. 
*  Motley,  Eise  of  the  Dutch  Bepublic,  I,  81. 


EUROPEAN  CITIES  35 

America.  Twenty-five  hundred  vessels  were  often  to  be 
seen  at  one  time  within  the  harbor  ;  and  the  arrival  and 
departure  of  500  vessels  in  a  single  day  are  recorded.  The 
population  rose  to  200,000,  a  figure  surpassed  by  no  city 
in  Europe  at  the  time,  except  Paris.  But  with  the  rise  of 
the  Dutch  Republic,  Antwerp  declined.  There  was  con- 
stant strife  with  the  Dutch ;  and  in  1648,  by  the  Treaty  of 
Westphalia,  the  river  Scheldt  was  closed  to  navigation  and 
Antwerp  shut  off  from  the  sea.  In  twenty-five  years  its 
population  fell  one-half. 

Next  to  Antwerp  at  this  period,  but  in  earlier  times  far 
surpassing  that  city,  was  Ghent.  At  the  end  of  the  thir- 
teenth century  it  was  larger  than  Paris ;  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  Froissart  estimated  its  military  strength  at  80,000 
men ;  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  woollen 
manufactures  there  employed  40,000  men :  and  even  in  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  its  population  was  but  little 
behind  that  of  Antwerp.1  Another  important  Flemish  city 
was  Brussels,  a  city  since  the  twelfth  century,  which  in  1555 
had  a  population  of  100,000. 2  Bruges  still  remained  a  city 
of  note ;  while  Ypres,  Louvain,  and  Bois-le-duc  also  deserve 
mention. 

In  the  Dutch  Republic  the  most  important  cities  were 
Rotterdam  and  Amsterdam.  The  former  had  succeeded  to 
the  trade  of  Dordrecht,  since  an  inundation  of  1421  had  shut 
off  that  place  from  the  mainland.  Amsterdam,  which  had 
been  only  a  village  in  the  twelfth  century,  came  to  the  front 
with  the  success  of  the  Dutch  ;  and  it  soon  supplanted  Ant- 
werp as  the  commercial  entrepdt  of  the  world.  During  the 
twenty  years  of  the  great  war  (1590-1609),  its  population 
increased  from  70,000  to  100,000 ;  and  this  latter  figure  was 
more  than  doubled  in  the  following  decade.3  By  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  London  had  become  the  princi- 
pal commercial  city  in  Europe,  but  Amsterdam  remained  an 
important  city  until  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  there  was  a  re- 

i  Motley,  Eise  of  the  Dutch  BepuWc,  I,  60.  2  Ibid.,  I,  96. 

3  Motley,  History  of  the  United  Netherlands,  IV,  557. 


36  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

vival  in  German  city  life.  Hamburg,  one  of  the  few  cities 
which  retained  their  mediaeval  independence,  by  securing 
some  of  the  Antwerp  trade,  regained  in  part  its  former 
power.  Farther  east,  Danzig  came  to  be  the  principal  centre 
of  the  grain  and  timber  trade,  which  formerly  came  via 
Novgorod;  while  Riga  grew  to  importance  as  a  shipping 
point  for  flax  and  hemp  used  in  linen  manufacture,  which 
developed  in  Western  Germany.  Westphalia  was  the  prin- 
cipal seat  of  this  industry,  and  to  it  was  due  the  rise,  during 
the  seventeenth  century,  of  Elberfeld  and  Barmen.  Some  of 
the  older  cities  in  South  Germany,  such  as  Augsburg  and 
Nuremberg,  still  remained  of  considerable  importance. 

Municipal  conditions  in  these  Netherlands  and  German 
cities,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  showed  a  perceptible  advance 
over  those  of  the  fourteenth  century.  In  most  cities  the 
streets  were  now  passable.  Pigs  and  cows  no  longer  browsed 
freely  in  the  public  ways,  and  paving  was  more  common ; 
although  the  paving  stones  were  still  bad  and  the  cleanliness 
of  the  streets  was  not  above  reproach.1  Even  in  the  less 
important  towns  there  was  a  public  square  for  market  traffic, 
while  in  the  larger  cities  the  principal  streets  and  squares 
were  of  spacious  dimensions.  In  many  places  substantial 
city  halls,  or  Stadthauser,  were  built ;  while  the  elegant 
public  buildings  in  such  cities  as  Antwerp,  Ghent,  and 
Brussels  are  still  among  the  famous  examples  of  architecture. 
Perhaps  the  most  noted  is  the  city  hall  of  Brussels,  "  with 
its  audacious  and  exquisitely  embroidered  tower,  366  feet 
in  height,  a  miracle  of  needlework  in  stone,  rivalling  in  its 
intricate  carving  the  cobweb  tracery  of  that  lace  which  for 
centuries  has  been  synonymous  with  the  city,  and  rearing 
itself  above  a  fagade  of  profusely  decorated  and  embroidered 
architecture."  2  At  Ghent  was  the  well-known  belfry,  "  where 
for  centuries  had  perched  the  dragon  sent  by  the  Emperor 
Baldwin  of  Flanders  from  Constantinople,  and  where  swung 
the  famous  Roland,  whose  iron  tongue  had  called  the  citizens 
generation  after  generation  to  arms."3 

1  Blok,  History  of  the  People  of  the  Netherlands,  II,  352. 

2  Motley,  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic,  I,  96.  8  Ibid.,  I,  60. 


EUROPEAN   CITIES  37 

Other  important  public  works  were  the  city  walls.  The 
walls  of  Ghent  were  nine  miles  in  circuit,  those  of  Brussels 
six  miles,  —  the  latter  dating  from  the  fourteenth  century. 
In  the  seaport  towns  the  harbors  and  docks  were  extensive 
works,  those  at  Antwerp  deserving  special  mention.  At 
least  one  city  had  something  analogous  to  the  modern  public 
park.  Within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  city  walls  of 
Brussels  was  the  forest  of  Soignes,  which  was  used  as  a 
recreation  and  hunting  ground.  Some  special  equipment 
for  suppressing  fires  was  provided,  especially  in  those  cities 
where  the  ravages  of  the  flames  had  been  felt ;  and,  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  hand-pumping  engines  and  leathern 
hose  were  invented  and  brought  into  use. 

Important  advances  were  also  made  in  the  fields  of  edu- 
cation and  public  charity.  Already  in  the  fifteenth  century 
municipal  efforts  toward  poor  relief  are  evident  in  the  pur- 
chase, in  times  of  scarcity,  of  supplies  of  grain  by  German 
cities.1  But  of  more  importance  is  the  reform  in  charity 
work  early  in  the  sixteenth  century.  This  was  begun  at 
Ypres  in  1525,  where  a  system  of  municipal  control  over 
private  and  ecclesiastical  charities  was  introduced,  a  reform 
in  hospital  methods  inaugurated,  an  organized  attempt  made 
to  find  work  for  those  in  need,  and  begging  forbidden.2 
The  main  features  of  this  system  of  organized  charity  effort 
were  adopted  in  some  other  cities  ;  while  after  the  break-up 
of  the  ecclesiastical  system  in  the  Reformation  movement 
many  new  charitable  institutions  distinctively  municipal  in 
character  appear.  Unfortunately  these  efforts  were  not 
permanently  successful,  and  the  system  of  organized  charity 
broke  down,  probably  owing  to  the  tremendous  strain  of  the 
conditions  produced  by  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 

The  ecclesiastical  changes  also  developed  an  opportunity  and 
a  pressing  need  for  a  new  educational  system ;  and  municipal 
institutions,  both  new  and  old,  assume  a  more  prominent  posi- 
tion. In  the  larger  cities  the  municipal  schools  became  cen- 
tres of  culture,  and  in  some  cases  even  miniature  universities. a 

1  Ashley,  Economic  History,  II,  11.  2  Ibid.,  II,  350. 

3  Blok,  History  of  the  People  of  the  Netherlands,  II,  352. 


38  MUNICIPAL    HISTORY 

In  France  the  economic  measures  and  public  works  of 
Colbert,  toward  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  pro- 
moted an  increase  in  commerce  and  industry,  and  caused  the 
development  of  some  cities,  notably  Paris,  Toulouse,  and 
Lyons.  The  last  named  was  the  centre  of  silk  manufacture, 
which  had  been  first  promoted  by  Francis  I  and  Henry  IV. 
Under  the  new  stimulus  in  the  seventeenth  century  this  in- 
dustry at  Lyons  employed  from  nine  to  ten  thousand  looms, 
but  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  and  the  expulsion 
of  the  Huguenots  struck  a  serious  blow  at  industrial  and  city 
life  in  France.  In  Lyons  the  number  of  silk  looms  in  opera- 
tion was  reduced  to  one-third  of  those  formerly  employed, 
and  in  other  cities  also  population  and  industries  were  seri- 
ously affected. 

One  French  city,  however,  continued  to  prosper.  That 
was  Paris,  which,  as  the  seat  of  government,  gained  with  the 
growing  centralization  of  power.  Social  factors  also  pro- 
moted its  growth,  while  some  of  the  principal  industries  fos- 
tered by  the  economic  legislation  of  Colbert  were  located 
here.  Throughout  the  period  now  in  review,  Paris  was  the 
largest  and  most  important  city,  not  only  in  France,  but  in 
all  Europe.  It  is  there  we  shall  find  the  greatest  advance  in 
municipal  conditions,  although,  as  must  be  remembered,  the 
improvements  were  introduced  by  the  royal  government,  and 
there  was  no  important  local  self-government  in  Paris. 

The  population  of  the  city  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the 
fourteenth  century  was  said  to  be  300,000 ; l  but  it  suffered 
severely  from  the  ravages  of  the  Black  Death  in  1356,  and 
probably  was  below  rather  than  above  that  figure  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fifteenth  century.  But  after  that  time  it  steadily 
increased,  until  in  1720  the  number  of  its  inhabitants  reached 
1,400,000. 2  The  progress  of  the  city  is  especially  marked 
after  the  advent  of  the  Bourbon  monarchy  at  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  Henry  IV  constructed  the  Pont  Neuf 
from  the  north  to  the  south  bank  of  the  Seine,  across  the 
island  of  la  cite,  and  the  rapid  growth  which  followed  on 
the  southern  side  of  the  river  necessitated  an  extension  of  the 

i  Martin,  Histoire  de  France,  VI,  44.  *Ibid.,  XV,  53. 


EUROPEAN  CITIES  39 

ramparts  around  the  city.  In  the  time  of  Louis  XIII  the 
island  of  St.  Louis,  just  above  la  cite,  became  a  populous 
parish,  with  streets  laid  out  in  straight  lines.  But  even  at 
this  time  little  had  been  done  to  improve  the  older  part  of 
the  city.  The  streets  were  narrow  and  poorly  paved  ;  regu- 
lations dating  from  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  re- 
quiring householders  to  place  lanterns  at  the  street  corners 
were  not  enforced,  while  the  police  control  was  so  ineffective 
that  bands  of  robbers  were  active  and  made  both  life  and 
property  unsafe.1 

It  was  not  until  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV  that  important 
steps  were  taken  in  the  improvement  of  municipal  conditions, 
which  mark  the  beginnings  of  modern  city  life.  The  city 
had  spread  beyond  the  old  fortifications  of  Marcel,  and 
these  were  now  levelled  and  boulevards  constructed  along 
their  sites,  while  other  boulevards  were  laid  out  in  the 
new  districts  to  the  north.  Something  was  done  in  the  en- 
largement of  old  streets;  additional  water  supply  was 
secured  ;  new  quays  were  built  along  the  water  front ;  while 
the  completion  of  the  Louvre,  the  Tuileries,  the  gardens  of 
the  Tuileries,  the  Champs-Elysees,  and  the  construction  of 
arcs  de  triomphe  at  various  points  added  to  the  artistic  and 
architectural  features  of  the  city.2 

In  1667  the  office  of  lieutenant  of  police  was  established  in 
place  of  the  former  royal  provost  of  Paris.  This  office  de- 
veloped into  an  important  detective  agency  of  the  govern- 
ment, for  political  purposes,  but  it  was  also  charged  with  the 
maintenance  of  public  security  and  health  in  the  metropolis. 
The  patrol  of  the  streets  was  performed  by  a  small  guard 
employed  by  the  city ;  but  the  forty-eight  commissaries,  or 
police  justices,  were  under  the  control  of  the  royal  lieutenant. 
La  Reynie,  the  first  lieutenant  of  police,  also  bettered  condi- 
tions by  enforcing  the  old  regulations  for  lighting  and  clean- 
ing the  streets  by  the  householders.  From  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century  contracts  for  street  lighting  and  clean- 
ing were  made  by  the  public  authorities,  and  a  tax  to  cover 

1 J.  Caillet,  V administration  en  France  sous  Richelieu,  pp.  229  ff. 
2  Martin,  Histoire  de  France,  XIII,  84,  234. 


40  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

the  expenses  collected  from  the  householders.  About  the 
middle  of  that  century  the  candle  lanterns  were  replaced  by 
oil  lamps.1  Street  paving,  however,  continued  to  be  done 
by  adjacent  property  owners,  and  even  ordinances  requiring 
paving  were  not  enforced  against  the  wishes  of  the  land- 
owners.2 In  1716  a  fire  brigade  with  an  equipment  of  hand 
pumps  was  organized,  the  first  of  modern  times.3 

Charity  administration,  even  in  Paris,  was  no  longer  under 
the  exclusive  control  of  the  clergy.  As  early  as  1505,  the 
business  management  of  L'Hotel  Dieu — which  included  the 
old  institutions — passed  under  lay  control.  Later  institu- 
tions were  generally  administered  as  branches  of  the  general 
hospital,  established  in  1656,  which  was  under  the  control  of 
a  commission  composed  of  members  appointed  by  the  arch- 
bishop, lieutenant  of  police,  the  provost  of  the  merchants,  and 
the  Parlement  of  Paris.4  Schools,  however,  continued  to  be 
under  ecclesiastical  control  and  management. 

Other  cities  of  France  followed  Paris  in  these  municipal 
improvements.  None  had  such  imposing  public  works  as 
the  royal  palaces  and  gardens  of  the  metropolis.  But  the 
new  police  system  was  put  in  force  in  tl\e  large  provincial 
cities,  and  an  edict  of  1662  provided  for  the  establishment  in 
each  city  of  a  hospital  for  the  aged  poor,  invalids,  and 
orphans.6  The  system  of  government  in  these  cities  was 
moreover  marked  by  a  steady  increase  in  the  royal  authority. 
The  downfall  of  La  Rochelle,  in  1628,  marked  the  end  of  any 
independent  municipal  life  in  France.  Thenceforward  the 
domain  of  administration  by  royal  officials  steadily  increased, 
while  the  local  officials  in  the  exercise  of  the  functions  still 
left  to  them  were  subjected  to  the  control  of  the  intendants. 
At  length,  in  1692,  Louis  XIV  established  the  system  of 
selling  the  municipal  offices.  During  the  eighteenth  century 
edicts  restoring  the  right  of  local  election  and  reestablishing 
the  system  of  sale  followed  each  other  in  frequent  succession.6 

1  Block,  Administration  de  la  mile  de  Paris,  p.  430. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  333.  a  aw.,  p.  803.  *  Ibid.,  pp.  882-883.  ^ 
5  Martin,  Histoire  de  France,  XIII,  84. 

epizard,  La  France  en  1789,  pp.  192-194. 


EUROPEAN  CITIES  41 

Some  cities,  especially  those  in  the  south,  by  themselves 
purchasing  the  offices,  retained  in  their  own  hands  the 
election  of  the  local  officials ;  but  even  in  these  cases  the 
government  was  in  the  hands  of  a  small  oligarchy,  uncon- 
trolled by  the  people,  and  completely  under  the  direction  of 
the  royal  intendants.1 

1  De  Tocquevilie,  L'ancien  regime,  p.  68. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  ENGLISH  BOROUGHS 

Authorities. — ASHLEY:    Economic    History,    Bk.    II,    ch.    1.  —  COLBY: 

Growth  of  Oligarchy  in  English  Towns,  English  Historical  Review,  V, 
633-653.  —  J.  R.  GREEN  :  History  of  the  English  People,  I,  206-225, 
355-358.  —HENRY  HALLAM  :  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages,  III,  19-37,  219- 
231. — POLLOCK  AND  MAITLAND  :  History  of  English  Law,  I,  625-678. — 
J.  E.  T.  ROGERS  :  Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages,  I,  102-127  ;  II, 
310-338.  —  MRS.  J.  R.  GREEN  :  Town  Life  in  the  Fifteenth  Century,  I, 
chs.  1,  45.  —  Social  England,  II,  2,  8  ;  III,  375,  560,  575.  —  Gentleman's 
Magazine,  Vol.  57,  9-10,  105-107.  —  GEORGE  ROBERTS  :  Social  History, 
(1856).  —  HENRY  HALLAM:  Constitutional  History  of  England,  I,  45- 
46,264-268;  II,  453-455;  III,  36-47,  74-76.  —  MACADLAY  :  History  of 
England,  ch.  3.  —  MEREWETHER  AND  STEPHENS  :  History  of  Boroughs.  — 
J.  R.  S.  VINES:  Municipal  Government  in  England. — ALBERT  SHAW: 
Municipal  Government  in  Great  Britain.  — P.  ARMINJON  :  L'adminis- 
tration  locale  dans  1' Angleterre.  —  Journal  of  the  Boyal  Statistical 
Society,  V,  97-168.  —  Contemporary  Review,  Vol.  34,  678-699.  Report 
of  the  Commissioners  on  Municipal  Corporations,  1835.  —  See  also 
C.  GROSS  :  A  Bibliography  of  British  Municipal  History. 


MEDIAEVAL  TOWNS 

THE  development  of  important  cities  began  much  later  in 
England  than  on  the  Continent  of  Europe.  Not  until  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  there  any  general 
urban  growth,  while  even  London  did  not  reach  one  hundred 
thousand  population  until  the  sixteenth  century.  Neverthe- 
less, the  study  of  municipal  institutions  in  England,  which 
are  of  additional  importance  as  the  source  of  American  insti- 
tutions, begins  far  back  in  the  mediaeval  ages.  It  might 
indeed  begin  at  a  still  earlier  date  were  it  not  for  the  lack  of 
definite  information  about  the  first  centuries  after  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  occupation.  Owing  to  this,  the  origins  of  municipal 
institutions  in  England  are  far  from  clear;  and  especially 
the  extent  of  Roman  influence  on  later  institutions  is  still 

42 


THE   ENGLISH  BOROUGHS  43 

in  dispute.  But  it  is  known  that  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  period  (the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries) 
there  were  certain  small,  but  compactly  settled,  communities 
which,  in  addition  to  the  simple  administrative  officers  of 
the  rural  township,  had  also  a  separate  judiciary,  having  a 
jurisdiction  equal  to  that  of  the  Hundred  Courts.  A  burh 
of  this  kind  was  ordinarily  surrounded  by  a  wall,  and  it  was 
a  local  centre  for  what  little  trade  there  was  at  that  time. 
The  election  of  the  judicial  and  administrative  officers,  and 
the  passing  of  by-laws,  probably  occurred  at  an  annual 
session  of  the  court,  which  all  who  possessed  land  in 
the  burh  and  paid  local  taxes  could  attend;1  though  in  a 
town  dependent  on  a  lord,  the  latter  would  appoint  the 
officers. 

The  machinery  of  borough  government  in  England  devel- 
oped mainly  after  the  Norman  Conquest,  by  means  of  charters 
of  privileges,  which  correspond  to  the  charters  to  the  cities 
at  this  same  period  in  France  and  Spain,  except  that  the 
English  charters  were  more  usually  secured  from  the  king, 
as  most  of  the  boroughs  were  dependent  directly  on  the 
Crown.  The  earliest  granted,  and  one  of  the  most  important 
of  the  privileges  in  these  charters,  was  the  firma  burgi,  a  fixed 
sum  paid  by  the  burgesses  in  commutation  for  all  ordinary 
royal  feudal  dues  (such  as  rents,  tolls,  and  market  dues), 
which  had  formerly  been  collected  by  the  sheriffs  from  the 
individual  landholders.  When  this  grant  had  been  given, 
these  dues  were  collected  by  the  town  officers,  who  passed 
the  round  sum  into  the  royal  treasury ;  and  the  towns  were 
freed  from  the  frequent  financial  visits  of  the  sheriffs,  which 
had  been,  on  too  many  occasions,  opportunities  for  extortion. 
The  collection  of  firma  burgi  necessitated  a  certain  amount  of 
machinery  of  government;  and  in  most  cases,  though  not 
always,  the  election  of  these  officers  was  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  burgesses  themselves.  These  privileges  were  granted 

1  Domesday  Book  shows  that  the  local  government  of  towns  was  vested  in 
burgesses  presided  over  by  a  bailiff  ;  and  that  all  who  paid  scot  and  bore  lot 
continued  to  have  the  privileges  of  burgesses  as  in  Anglo-Saxon  times.  — 
J.  R.  S.  Vines,  Municipal  Government  in  England. 


44  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

because  the  lords  and  the  king  found  it  easier  to  collect  their 
revenues  in  this  way;  but,  at  the  same  time,  the  establish- 
ment of  the  local  organization  set  up  a  strong  tendency  in 
the  boroughs  toward  unity,  independence,  and  a  demand  for 
a  better  framework  of  government.  Another  privilege  resem- 
bled that  which  had  already  existed  in  some  places  during 
the  Anglo-Saxon  period,  —  the  right  of  establishing  a  local 
court,  separate  from,  and  in  the  main  independent  of,  the 
Hundred  and  County  Courts. 

These  three  privileges  —  a  local  organization,  the  firma 
burgi,  and  a  local  judiciary  —  were,  in  most  cases,  conferred 
at  the  same  time ;  and,  together,  form  the  whole  field  of  the 
activity  of  the  first  boroughs  of  the  Norman  period.  But 
beginning  in  the  twelfth  century,  as  trade  and  commerce 
developed  and  the  towns  gained  in  wealth  and  population, 
trade  gilds  became  important  factors  in  the  local  govern- 
ment, especially  where  they  obtained  the  privilege  of  gild 
merchant  from  the  crown,  giving  them  a  monopoly  of  the 
trade  in  that  locality.  This  grant  was  separate  from  the 
three  already  mentioned,  but  in  most  cases  the  members  of 
the  gild  were  the  same  persons  as  the  burgesses  who  held 
the  privileges  of  firma  burgi,  of  electing  town  officers,  and 
holding  a  court. 

"In  1216  the  most  advanced  among  the  English  towns  had 
succeeded  in  obtaining,  by  their  respective  charters,  and  with 
local  differences,  the  right  of  holding  and  taking  the  profits 
of  their  own  courts,  under  their  elected  officers,  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  sheriff  from  judicial  work  within  their  boundaries, 
the  right  of  collecting  and  compounding  for  their  own  pay- 
ments to  the  crown,  the  right  of  electing  their  own  bailiffs, 
and,  in  some  instances,  of  electing  a  mayor,  and  the  recog- 
nition of  their  merchant  gilds  by  charter  and  their  craft 
gilds  by  charter  or  fine."1 

1  Stubbs,   Constitutional  History,  III,  577. 

"In  the  early  days  the  inhabitants  of  the  municipal  town  depended  on 
its  own  territory,  built  and  maintained  their  walls  and  towers,  and  held 
reviews  of  their  forces  at  the  appointed  times  ;  they  elected  their  own  rulers 
and  officials  in  whatever  way  they  themselves  chose  to  adopt,  and  distributed 


THE   ENGLISH   BOROUGHS  45 

During  the  thirteenth  century  many  new  charters  were 
granted  and  new  privileges  appear.  The  privilege  of  return 
of  writ,  by  which  all  royal  warrants  were  sent  direct  to  the 
borough  officers,  instead  of  through  the  sheriff,  marked  a 
further  step  in  the  severance  of  the  connection  between  royal 
officers  and  the  boroughs,  and  thus  gave  the  boroughs  a  larger 
autonomy. 

The  representation  of  boroughs  in  Parliament  occurred 
first  in  1265,  but  was  not  definitely  established  until  1295. 
The  borough  members  were  summoned  because  the  king 
found  it  more  convenient  to  obtain  grants  of  revenue  (in 
addition  to  the  firma  burgi)  at  a  general  meeting  than  by 
negotiations  with  each  town ;  and  the  right  of  representation 
was  not  regarded  as  a  privilege  until  the  fifteenth  century. 
Moreover,  representation  served  to  retain  the  boroughs  in  a 
subordinate  relation  to  the  central  government,  and  thus  pre- 
vented the  growth  of  independent  cities  and  the  consequent 
weakening  of  the  national  authority,  as  in  Germany  and 
Italy.  On  the  other  hand,  the  English  boroughs  retained 
their  local  authority,  and  were  not  subject  to  the  extreme 
centralization  which  finally  prevailed  in  France. 

Down  to  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  the  English 
boroughs  were  little  more  than  good-sized  villages.  Outside 
of  London,  the  largest  had  not  over  4000  or  5000  population.1 
After  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  they  entered  on 
a  larger  industrial  development;  but  at  the  highest  point 
of  this  movement,  the  cities  were  much  smaller  than  on 
the  Continent.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century 

among  officers  and  councillors  just  such  powers  of  legislation  and  adminis- 
tration as  seemed  good  in  their  eyes  ;  they  drew  up  formal  constitutions  for 
the  government  of  the  community,  and  made,  remade,  and  revised  again 
their  ordinances ;  no  alien  officer  of  any  kind,  save  only  the  judges  of  the 
high  court,  might  cross  the  limit  of  their  liberties  ;  the  sheriff,  the  bailiff  of 
the  hundred,  the  king's  tax  gatherer,  were  alike  shut  out;  the  townsfolk, 
themselves  assessed  their  own  taxes,  levied  them  in  their  own  way,  and  paid 
them  through  their  own  officers  ;  they  claimed  broad  rights  of  justice  ;  crimi- 
nals were  brought  before  the  mayor's  court,  and  the  town  prison  with  its 
gallows  testified  to  an  authority  that  ended  only  with  death."  Mrs.  J.  R. 
Green,  Town  Life  in  the  Fifteenth  Century,  I,  1-4. 

1  Mrs.  J.  R.  Green,   Town  Life  in  the  Fifteenth  Century,  I,  11,  13. 


46  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

London  probably  had  a  population  of  40,000.  York  and 
Bristol,  which  ranked  next  to  London,  each  had  some  12,000; 
Plymouth  and  Coventry,  some  9000  each;  Norwich,  Lincoln, 
Salisbury,  Lynn,  and  Colchester  between  5000  and  7000. l 
No  others  had  over  5000  inhabitants. 

The  boroughs  were  essentially  trading  communities,  and 
the  predominant  factor  in  their  public  life  was  the  local  con- 
trol of  trade.  The  burgesses  in  each  borough  had  a  monopoly 
of  trade,  although  outsiders  were  permitted  to  sell  at  the 
markets  and  fairs.  The  principal  function  of  the  munici- 
pal authorities  was  the  survey  of  victuals,  the  regulations 
adopted  establishing  rules  of  quality,  weight,  and  price.  In 
each  borough  there  was  usually  common  property,  such  as 
pastures  and  town  mills,  survivals  from  the  day  of  the  agri- 
cultural village.  In  times  of  scarcity  the  municipal  authori- 
ties purchased  supplies  of  corn  to  be  sold  at  cost,  and  in  the 
sixteenth  century  large  purchases  were  made  regularly  by 
the  London  authorities.  Market  houses  and  town  halls  were 
built ;  in  a  few  places  some  street  paving  was  done,  and  a 
primitive  water  supply  brought  from  a  short  distance ;  and 
in  the  port  towns  wharves  were  constructed.  But  these 
works  were  all  on  a  limited  scale.  In  London  itself  the 
public  system  of  water  supply  was  very  inadequate,  and 
most  of  the  inhabitants  carried  their  own  water  from  the 
river;  arid  not  until  the  fourteenth  century  was  street  scav- 
enging by  swine  abolished.  In  some  provincial  cities 2 
scavengers  were  first  appointed  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

Until  the  thirteenth  century  the  government  of  English 
boroughs  had  been  democratic  in  principle,  and  seems  to 
have  been  democratic  in  actual  working.3  The  mass  of  the 
citizens  elected,  in  some  public  place,  their  own  bailiffs, 
their  own  coroners,  and  their  own  mayor;  but  no  town  coun- 

1  Ashley,  Economic  History,  II,  11 ;  J.  E.  T.  Rogers,  in  Work  and  Wages, 
gives  the  following  estimates  of  towns  with  over  5000  population  in  1337 : 
London,  37,000;   York,  11,000;   Bristol,  9500;   Coventry,   7000;   Norwich, 
6000  ;   and  Lincoln,  5000. 

2  E.g.  Ipswich  and  Exeter. 

8  Report  of  Commissioners  on  Municipal  Corporations,  Parliamentary 
Papers,  1835,  p.  16. 


THE   ENGLISH   BOROUGHS  47 

4jil  or  other  representative  governing  body  seems  to  have 
existed.  The  list  of  freemen  was  continually  enlarged  by 
the  admission  of  men  connected  with  the  town  by  birth,  mar- 
riage, apprenticeship,  or  servitude.  As,  however,  trade  and 
the  towns  increased,  and  municipal  affairs  became  more  com- 
plicated, the  large  meetings  of  the  burghers  became  incon- 
venient, and  in  some  places  committees  (usually  twelve  or 
twenty-four  in  number)  were  appointed  for  the  management 
of  the  government  of  the  town.1  These  committees  were  at 
first  annually  elected,  but  the  selection  was,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  from  those  burghers  who  by  wealth  or  personal  charac- 
ter were  foremost  in  the  town.  The  habit  of  reelecting  well- 
known  citizens  was  undoubtedly  convenient,  and  seems  to 
have  become  the  general  practice,  for  wherever  there  are  defi- 
nite records  the  same  names  constantly  recur  in  the  list  of 
officials.  The  annual  election  in  the  assembly  of  the  free- 
men thus  became  little  more  than  a  form,  and  little  interest 
was  taken  in  it  by  the  populace.  This  apathy  of  the  com- 
mon freemen  strengthened  the  hold  of  the  leading  burghers, 
and  the  change  from  free  election  to  cooptation  was  not  diffi- 
cult to  make,  though  in  many  places  it  was  not  submitted  to 
without  a  struggle.  The  oligarchical  spirit  gained  during 
the  period  of  the  Lancastrian  rule  and  during  the  Wars  of 
the  Roses,  so  that  by  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  a  large 
proportion  of  the  boroughs  of  England  were  ruled  by  select 
bodies  of  citizens. 

During  the  same  period  there  was  a  tendency  to  a  general 
type  in  the  organization  of  borough  officers,  in  which  there 
was  first,  a  chief  magistrate  (mayor);2  second,  a  staff  of  per- 
manent assistant  magistrates  (aldermen),  representing  the 
wards  by  the  union  of  which  the  city  had  been  formed  (as 
was  London),  or  into  which  it  had  been  subsequently  divided 
(as  was  Winchester);  third,  a  body  of  common  councilmen 
annually  elected,  nominally  by  the  inhabitants,  but,  in  many 
cases,  in  practice  by  a  few  leading  burghers. 

In  many  of  the  towns,  though  the  type  of  administration 

1  Colby,  Growth  of  Oligarchy  in  English  Towns,  p.  11. 

2  The  first  mayor  known  is  that  of  London,  1191.     Stubbs,  III,  579. 


48  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

was  similar  to  that  just  described,  it  rested  on  a  more  repre- 
sentative basis.  In  these,  the  freemen  at  large  still  met  and 
elected  the  councillors,  and  the  freedom  of  the  borough  could 
be  readily  obtained.  There  was  always,  however,  a  large 
body  of  inhabitants  outside  this  privileged  class,  who,  in 
consequence,  were  subject  to  vexatious  restrictions  and 
imposts.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  what  had  been  the 
democracy  of  1200  had  become  the  oligarchy  of  1500. 

The  unfranchised  classes,  the  humbler  sort  of  traders  and 
artisans,  were  by  no  means  satisfied  with  their  conditions ; 
they  were,  in  fact,  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  only 
awakening  to  their  position  and  demanding  the  restoration 
of  democratic  government.  "On  all  sides  agitators  pro- 
claimed the  rights  of  workers  to  have  a  voice  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  trade  and  the  right  of  the  common  burghers  to  a  share 
in  the  control  of  municipal  affairs."1 

Unfortunately  for  this  movement,  just  at  this  period  the 
encroachments  on  popular  liberty,  which  had  hitherto  been 
local  and  spontaneous  within  each  town,  were  strengthened 
by  gaining  the  support  of  the  law  and  the  Crown.  The 
Tudor  monarchs  saw  that  they  could  control  Parliament  if 
they  could  control  the  borough  representatives.  They  could 
control  a  select,  self-perpetuating  body  much  easier  than 
the  inhabitants  of  a  town.  Hence  the  Crown  began  to 
grant  charters  of  legal  incorporation  to  boroughs,2  —  gener- 
ally conferring  or  reviving  the  privilege  of  returning  mem- 
bers to  Parliament,  — which  vested  all  the  powers  of  municipal 
government  in  the  mayor  and  town  council,  nominated  in 
the  first  instance  by  the  Crown  and  afterward  self-elected.3 
In  many  cases  this  simply  confirmed  the  existing  usage ;  but 
the  new  legal  status  served  in  no  small  degree  to  establish 

1  Mrs.  Green,   Town  Life  in  the  Fifteenth  Century,  II,  441. 

2  The  first  formal  charter  of  incorporation  on  record  is  that  to  Kingston- 
upon-Hull  (18  Henry  VI,  1439),  and  but  few  were  issued  before  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII. 

8  May,  Constitutional  History,  III,  279.  A  few  boroughs,  e.g.  London, 
York,  and  Bristol,  had  also  a  separate  county  organization,  —  sheriff,  county 
court,  militia,  —  and  were  entirely  beyond  the  control  of  the  officials  of  the 
county  in  which  they  were  geographically  situated. 


THE  ENGLISH  BOROUGHS  49 

firmly  the  control  of  select  bodies.  The  juristic  personality 
of  the  municipal  body,  conferred  in  the  name  "corpora- 
tion, "  simply  made  more  definite  the  legal  position  of  the 
municipality.1 

The  typical  constitution  of  an  English  borough,  as  early 
as  the  reign  of  Henry  VII,  is  described  by  Bishop  Stubbs 
as  "a  close  corporation  of  a  mayor,  aldermen,  and  council, 
with  precisely  defined  organization  and  numbers,  —  not 
indeed  uniform,  but  of  the  same  general  conformation,  — 
possessing  a  new  character,  denoted  in  the  name  of  corpora- 
tion in  its  legal  sense,  with  powers  varying  in  the  different 
communities,  and  in  practice  susceptible  of  wide  variations."2 
This  type  of  municipal  organization  remained  practically 
unchanged  until  the  passage  of  the  Municipal  Corporations 
Act  of  1835. 

1500-1800 

In  the  sixteenth  century  the  mediaeval  town  system  gave 
way,  in  every  direction,  to  an  organization  of  trade  and 
industry  resting  on  the  wider  basis  of  the  national  state.3 
This  was  primarily  a  decline  in  the  political  importance  of 
the  boroughs,  as  parliamentary  statutes  for  the  control  of 
commerce  and  manufactures  took  the  place  of  municipal 
regulations.  The  local  functions  of  the  municipal  officials 
were  not  disturbed;  but,  as  has  been  indicated,  these  were 
of  slight  importance.  It  seems  clear,  too,  that  by  the  latter 
half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  if  not  before,  there  was  a  decline 
in  the  material  well-being  of  many  provincial  towns.  This 
meant  a  further  reduction  in  the  extent  of  municipal  activi- 
ties, and  in  the  importance  of  the  municipal  administration. 
London,  however,  continued  to  grow.  It  had  extended 

1  In  1466  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  held  «« that  if  the  king  gave  land  in 
fee  farm  to  the  good  men  of  the  town  of  Dale,  the  corporation  was  good," 
thus  establishing  the  doctrine  of  the  creation  of  corporations  by  implication, 
and  charters  of  immunities  and  privileges  of  Henry  III,  Richard  I,  and 
John  having  been  regarded  as  charters  of  incorporation.     Merewether  and 
Stephens,  History  of  Boroughs,  p.  xxxiii. 

2  Constitutional  History,  III,  577. 

8  Ashley,  Economic  History,  II,  42. 


50  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

beyond  the  walls  which  set  the  limits  to  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  city  corporation,  and  the  population  in  1550  has  been 
estimated  at  120,000.*  The  space  beyond  the  walls  was 
built  up  without  any  regularity  of  plan,  while  only  a  few 
of  the  more  important  streets  were  paved  in  any  fashion. 
Even  within  the  city  limits  the  noise  and  dirt  of  the  streets 
were  subjects  of  bitter  complaint.  Indeed,  the  river  was 
the  principal  route  for  transit  across  the  city,  and  boats 
were  the  cabs  and  cars  for  the  residents  of  the  Elizabethan 
metropolis.2  The  water  system  was  also  inadequate;  and 
the  neglect  of  the  corporation  led  to  the  formation,  early 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  of  a  private  company,  which 
established  works  on  the  New  River. 

From  the  time  of  the  Tudors  until  the  accession  of 
Charles  I,  the  creation  of  new  municipal  corporations,  for 
the  sake  of  securing  the  authority  of  the  crown  in  Parlia- 
ment, went  on  actively.  Between  1483  and  1625  the  num- 
ber of  borough  members  in  the  House  of  Commons  increased 
from  222  to  395.  In  the  reigns  of  Edward  VI,  Mary,  and 
Elizabeth,  sixteen  new  boroughs  were  incorporated  in  the 
county  of  Cornwall  alone,  that  county  being  more  directly 
subject  to  coercive  influence  through  the  indefinite  and  op- 
pressive jurisdiction  of  the  Stannary  Court.3  Charles  I, 
however,  who  tried  to  do  without  Parliament,  rather  than 
to  manage  them  by  influence,  created  no  new  boroughs ;  and 
from  his  accession  the  borough  representation  in  Parliament 
remained  fixed  until  the  Franchise  Reform  Act  of  1832. 

In  1624  a  celebrated  election  committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons  *  declared  that  the  elective  franchises  in  ancient 
boroughs,  and  in  all  of  later  creation,  where  one  of  a  differ- 
ent nature  was  not  expressed  in  the  charter,  was  of  common 
law  right,  "the  inhabitant  householders,  resident  in  the 
borough,  paying  scot  and  lot."  This  is  of  interest  as  show- 
ing the  legal  opinion  of  the  time  as  to  the  original  borough 
franchise ;  but  no  attempt  seems  to  have  been  made  to  have 
this  principle  recognized  in  the  new  charters  or  in  the  re- 

1  Social  England,  III,  375.         *  Hallam,  Constitutional  History,  III,  39. 

,  HI,  41. 


-THE   ENGLISH^TTOSbUGHS  51 


newals  of  old  charters.     The  oligarchic  form  of  municipal 
government  remained  unaltered. 

During  the  Puritan  Revolution  the  boroughs  had  been 
the  strongholds  of  the  Commonwealth  party,  and  after  the 
Restoration  of  Charles  II  it  was  determined  to  attack  those 
which  still  opposed  the  court  party.  Acting  under  a  statute 
for  the  correction  of  boroughs  (13  Charles  II),  a  quo  war- 
ranto  information  was  brought  against  the  city  of  London  in 
1683,  and  its  charter  was  declared  by  the  Court  of  King's 
Bench  to  be  forfeited  on  the  ground  that  it  had  exceeded  its 
jurisdiction  in  the  exaction  of  certain  market  tolls.  After 
the  fall  of  the  metropolis,  the  threat  of  similar  proceedings 
was  sufficient  to  induce  many  boroughs  to  surrender  their 
charters  on  the  promise  of  new  grants  from  the  Crown.  The 
new  charters  were  all  framed  on  the  oligarchic  model. 

James  II  attempted  to  remodel  the  governing  authorities 
of  the  boroughs  so  as  to  gain  the  control  of  Parliament,1  and 
his  dealings  with  the  corporations  was  one  of  the  greatest 
grievances  against  him.  His  last  act  to  restore  himself  in 
favor  was  a  proclamation  (October  17, 1688)  which  annulled 
the  surrenders  and  revived  the  former  charters.  This  did 
not,  however,  give  the  people  in  the  boroughs  any  voice  in 
the  management  of  local  affairs;  it  simply  transferred  the 
government  of  the  boroughs  from  a  select  body  favorable  to 
James  II  to  another  select  body  favoring  the  opposition  to 
James,  and  later  supporting  William  and  Mary.  The  bor- 
oughs seem  to  have  been  thought  of  mainly  as  instruments 
for  controlling  Parliament,  and  their  functions  in  local  affairs 
were  wholly  subordinated  to  this  one  end. 

Indeed,  in  many  of  the  boroughs  the  election  of  members 
to  Parliament  constituted  the  sole  function  of  the  corpora- 
tions, and  was  the  sole  excuse  for  their  existence;  while 
only  in  a  very  few  cases  were  the  local  functions  of  any 
importance.  These  local  functions  were  usually  confined  to 
the  care  of  ancient  town  property  and  the  control  of  local 
constables  and  judicial  administration.  The  church  wardens 
and  parish  overseers  had  the  same  powers  over  poor  relief 

1  Hallam,  Constitutional  History,  III,  74. 


52  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

and  highways  in  the  borough  parishes  as  those  in  the  rural 
parishes.  Public  works  were  almost  unknown,  as  but  few 
places  were  large  enough  to  make  the  need  for  street  paving, 
lighting,  or  an  abundant  water  supply  of  great  importance. 
In  the  time  of  Charles  II  there  was  no  town  in  England, 
except  London,  with  a  population  of  over  30,000,  and  only 
four  provincial  cities  contained  so  many  as  10,000  inhabitants. 

Next  to  London,  but  at  an  immense  distance,  stood  Bris- 
tol, then  the  first  English  seaport  and  the  centre  of  colonial 
trade,  and  Norwich,  the  first  manufacturing  town.  Each 
had  less  than  30,000  inhabitants.  Far  below  Bristol  and 
Norwich,  but  still  high  in  dignity  and  importance  as  centres 
of  county  life,  came  other  ancient  capitals  of  shires :  York 
and  Exeter  had  each  about  10,000  population;  Worcester 
and  Nottingham  about  8000;  Shrewsbury,  7000;  Gloucester, 
5000;  and  Derby,  4000.  Some  of  the  modern  industrial 
towns  were  emerging  from  the  village  to  the  town.  Man- 
chester was  a  mean  and  ill-built  market  town  of  less  than 
6000 ;  Leeds,  the  chief  seat  of  the  already  important  woollen 
manufactures  of  Yorkshire,  had  not  over  7000;  Sheffield,  Bir- 
mingham, and  Liverpool  had  each  less  than  4000 ;  Bath,  at 
the  head  of  English  watering-places,  had  not  over  400  or  500 
houses.1 

In  London,  however,  —  which  in  1685  had  a  population  of 
half  a  million,  — there  was  at  least  the  opportunity  for  much 
municipal  activity.  For  half  a  century  it  had  been,  next  to 
Paris,  the  most  populous  capital  in  Europe,  its  only  commer- 
cial rival,  Amsterdam,  having  been  long  since  outstripped. 
And  in  the  seventeenth  century  the  city  of  London  was  not 
merely  a  business  centre,  but  also  the  residence  of  both  mer- 
chant princes  and  nobility.  The  train  bands,  20,000  strong, 
though  only  a  raw  militia,  added  much  to  the  dignity  and 
importance  of  the  city  at  a  time  when  there  was  no  standing 
army.  London,  indeed,  was  to  the  Londoner  of  that  time 
what  Athens  was  to  the  Athenian  of  the  age  of  Pericles,  what 
Florence  was  to  the  Florentine  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

Nevertheless,  municipal  conditions  in  London  were  in  a 

1  Macaulay,  History  of  England,  ch.  3. 


THE  ENGLISH  BOROUGHS  53 

state  which  to-day  would  be  considered  intolerable.  After 
the  great  fire  in  1666,  a  comprehensive  plan  for  reconstruction 
was  drawn  up  by  the  famous  architect,  Sir  Christopher  Wren, 
providing  for  broad  streets,  spacious  squares,  and  wide  quays 
along  the  Thames;  but  building  in  accordance  with  these 
plans  was  not  enforced,  and  the  opportunity  was  lost.  Not 
only  did  the  narrow  streets  and  crooked  alleys  remain,  but 
little  effort  was  made  to  render  them  even  passable.  The 
pavement  was  detestable ;  all  foreigners  cried  shame  upon  it. 
The  drainage  was  so  bad  that  in  rainy  weather  the  gutters 
soon  became  torrents.  Several  facetious  poets  have  com- 
memorated the  fury  with  which  the  black  rivulets  roared 
down  Snow  Hill  and  Ludgate  Hill,  bearing  to  Fleet  Ditch 
a  vast  tribute  of  animal  and  vegetable  filth  from  the  stalls  of 
the  butchers  and  greengrocers.1 

Open  spaces  within  the  town  were  receptacles  for  offal  and 
cinders,  for  dead  cats  and  dead  dogs.  The  houses  were  not 
numbered,  and,  until  the  end  of  Charles  II  's  reign,  most  of 
the  streets  were  in  profound  darkness.  Falls,  bruises,  and 
broken  bones  were  of  frequent  occurrence.  Pails  were 
emptied  from  upper  windows  with  little  regard  for  those 
passing  below.  Sewers  for  the  disposal  of  waste  were  abso- 
lutely unknown.  Thieves  and  robbers  plied  their  trade  with 
impunity;  while  the  dissolute  youth  of  the  better  classes 
amused  themselves  at  night  by  breaking  windows,  upsetting 
sedan  chairs,  beating  quiet  men,  and  offering  rude  caresses 
to  pretty  women.  It  is  true,  there  was  an  act  of  common 
council  which  provided  that  more  than  one  thousand  watch- 
men should  be  constantly  on  the  alert  from  sunset  to  sunrise, 
and  that  every  inhabitant  should  take  his  turn  of  duty.  But 
few  of  those  who  were  summoned  left  their  homes ;  and  those 
few  generally  found  it  more  agreeable  to  tipple  in  ale-houses 
than  to  pace  the  streets. 

A  system  of  street  lighting  was  introduced  in  London  in 
1685,  through  what  would  now  be  called  a  franchise.  Let- 
ters patent  were  issued  to  one  Edward  Heming,  who  bound 
himself  to  place  a  light  before  every  tenth  house  from 

1  Macaulay,  History  of  England,  ch.  3. 


54  MUNICIPAL    HISTORY 

Michaelmas  to  Lady  Day,  to  be  lit  on  dark  nights  until  mid- 
night. Ten  nights  in  each  month  were  considered  "light." 
The  contractor  was  empowered  to  levy  a  rate  of  six  shillings 
a  year  from  all  housekeepers  who  paid  poor  rate,  and  from 
all  owners  of  houses  of  a  rental  value  of  over  X10  per 
year,  unless  they  hung  out  a  lantern  or  candle  before  their 
doors.  The  contractor  agreed  to  pay  the  city  £600  a  year. 

This  system,  with  all  its  deficiencies,  from  the  modern 
point  of  view,  was  a  large  improvement  over  previous  con- 
ditions. Nevertheless,  for  many  years  there  remained  exten- 
sive districts  with  no  lamps,  and  hence  without  lights  even 
for  the  limited  periods  provided  for  by  the  system.  In  1736 
a  further  improvement  in  London  street  lighting  was  estab- 
lished. The  mayor  and  aldermen  of  the  city  were  authorized 
to  erect  glass  lamps  to  be  lit  all  night,  and  to  levy  a  rate 
for  their  maintenance.  More  than  15,000  lamps  are  said  to 
have  been  erected  in  a  few  years ;  and  it  has  been  calculated 
that  in  place  of  750  hours  a  year,  the  London  streets  were 
now  lit  5000  hours. 

In  1722  a  second  private  water  company  was  formed,  and 
authorized  to  furnish  an  additional  water  supply  to  the 
metropolis.  About  the  middle  of  this  century,  when  the 
novelist  Fielding  was  magistrate  at  Bow  Street  Court,  some 
improvement  was  made  in  the  police  within  the  city,  and 
Street  robbery  and  rioting  were  suppressed.  The  street  pave- 
ments, however,  throughout  the  eighteenth  century  remained 
not  merely  poor,  but  scandalously  inferior  to  that  of  the  great 
towns  on  the  Continent.1 


REFORM   OF   THE   CORPORATIONS 

After  the  revolution  of  1689  the  interference  of  the 
Crown  with  corporate  privileges  —  "  the  intrusion  of  preroga- 
tive "2 —  had  ceased;  but  municipal  self-government  was  as 
little  respected  as  before.  The  close  corporation  had  come 
to  be  regarded  as  the  typical  form  of  municipal  government, 

1  Lecky,  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  I,  615. 

2  May,  Constitutional  History  of  England,  III,  280. 


lactu 
^^01 

l^ll 


THE  ENGLISH  BOROUGHS  55 

and  the  charters  granted  during  the  Georgian  period  fol- 
lowed the  model  of  the  preceding  period.  Even  where  the 
powers  of  government  were  not  expressly  limited  to  a  small 
body  of  persons,  custom  and  usurpation  restricted  it  either 
to  the  town  council  or  to  that  body  and  its  own  nominees, 
the  freemen.  The  House  of  Commons,  by  decisions  in  con- 
troverted election  cases,  and  also  the  courts  of  law,  continued 
and  supported  the  established  usage.  Composed  of  local, 
aud  often  hereditary,  cliques  and  family  connections,  these 
corporations  were  masters  of  the  situation.  The  governing 
authorities,  elected  for  life,  often  self-elected,  found  it  not 
difficult  to  consolidate  their  personal  interests,  and  they  were 
thus  free  to  act  without  any  sense  of  responsibility  to  the 
communities. 

Meanwhile  the  towns  were  growing  in  population  and 
wealth.  The  development  of  commerce,  following  the  revo- 
lution of  1689,  promoted  the  growth  of  seaport  cities ;  and 
after  the  middle  of  the  next  century  the  introduction  of  the 
factory  system  of  industry  started  the  rapid  growth  of  manu- 
facturing centres.  The  population  of  London  increased  by 
to  865,000.  But  of  greater  significance  are  the  facts 
egard  to  urban  centres  outside  of  the  metropolis.  Where 
L685  there  had  been  only  four  towns  of  over  10,000,  and 
over  30,000,  in  1801  there  were  in  England  fourteen 
towns  with  over  20,000,  aggregating  641,000 ;  while  including 
Scotland  and  Ireland  there  were  twenty-four  towns  with  from 
20,000  to  170,000  population  each,  aggregating  1,210,000. 
Including  London,  the  population  of  cities  of  over  20,000 
in  the  United  Kingdom  was  more  than  2,000,000,*  a  larger 
number  than  were  to  be  found  at  that  time  in  the  cities  of 
this  size  in  any  other  country. 

The  existing  system  of  municipal  government  provided  no 
means  for  supplying  the  most  essential  needs  of  these  urban 
communities.  The  more  populous  and  wealthy  towns,  how- 
ever, began  to  seek  a  remedy,  in  their  individual  cases,  by 
applying  to  Parliament  for  special  legislation.  Beginning 
as  early  as  the  reign  of  George  II,  numerous  special  acts 

1  Weber,  Growth  of  Cities,  pp.  46-66. 


56  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

were  passed  authorizing  local  improvements  in  various  cities, 
more  especially  providing  for  paving,  lighting,  and  cleansing 
streets,  and  establishing  a  body  of  night-watchmen,  with 
authority  to  levy  local  rates  for  these  purposes.  In  some 
cases  these  new  powers  were  conferred  upon  the  existing 
municipal  corporation,  but  more  often  on  special  and  inde- 
pendent boards ;  and  in  the  London  parishes  outside  of  the 
city  boundaries  it  was  frequently  the  parish  vestry  which 
received  the  authority.  This  added  a  confused  chaos  of 
authorities  to  the  other  difficulties  of  the  situation,  without 
adequately  meeting  the  new  urban  conditions,  while  in  many 
towns  little  or  nothing  was  accomplished  in  the  way  of 
municipal  improvements. 

Meanwhile  the  urban  movement  was  gaining  an  increasing 
momentum,  and  municipal  problems  were  becoming  steadily 
more  pressing.  Two  distinct  reforms  were  essential.  First, 
a  radical  reconstruction  of  the  municipal  corporations ;  and 
second,  an  equally  radical  development  in  the  conception  of 
the  functions  and  duties  of  the  corporations.  The  second 
reform  could  come  only  after  the  first. 

The  corrupt  corporations  were,  however,  the  strongho 
of  parliamentary  interest  and  corruption,  and  to  this  t 
owed  their  long  immunity.  "The  unreformed  House 
Commons  was,  in  fact,  dependent  on  the  unreformed  cor- 
porations. The  unreformed  corporations  were  the  cause  and 
consequence  of  the  unreformed  House  of  Commons."  "A 
great  number  of  corporations,"  say  the  commissioners  of 
1835,2  "have  been  preserved  solely  as  political  engines,  and 
the  towns  to  which  they  belong  derive  no  benefit  but  much 
injury  from  their  existence.  To  maintain  the  political 
ascendency  of  a  family  has  been  the  one  end  and  object  for 
which  the  powers  intrusted  to  those  bodies  have  been  exer- 
cised. This  object  has  been  systematically  pursued  in  the 
admission  of  freemen,  resident  or  non-resident;  in  the  selec- 
tion of  municipal  functionaries  for  the  council  and  the  mag- 

1  Walpole,  History  of  England  since  1815,  IV,  36. 

2  Report  of  the  Commissioners  on  Municipal  Corporations,  Parliamentary 
Papers,  1835,  p.  34. 


THE   ENGLISH   BOROUGHS  57 

istracy;  in  the  appointment  of  subordinate  officers  and  the 
local  police;  in  the  administration  of  charities  intrusted  to 
the  municipal  authorities;  in  the  expenditure  of  corporate 
revenues;  and  in  the  management  of  corporate  property." 

Such  corporations  were  safe  so  long  as  the  notorious  abuses 
of  parliamentary  representation  were  tolerated;  but  they 
received  their  death  blow  from  parliamentary  reform.  The 
Act  of  1832  wrested  from  the  corporations  their  exclusive 
electoral  privileges  and  restored  them  to  the  people.  By 
this  act  many  of  the  smaller  boroughs  were  disfranchised. 
Some  of  these  had  no  funds  of  their  own,  their  expenses  being 
defrayed  by  their  patron,  who  naturally  declined  to  go  on 
contributing  to  their  support  when  he  ceased  to  derive  any 
benefit  from  the  borough.  In  these  cases  the  borough  died 
a  natural  death,  the  corporation  having  no  means  of  sustain- 
ing municipal  institutions.  In  other  boroughs  the  parlia- 
mentary boundaries  were  rearranged  and  the  franchise  was 
bestowed  on  all  occupiers,  whether  freemen  or  not,  thus 
sweeping  away  the  political  abuses  of  the  boroughs. 

The  condition  of  the  municipalities  naturally  forced  itself 
on  the  consideration  of  the  first  House  of  Commons  elected 
nder  the  Reform  Act  of  1832.  Petitions  for  their  reform 

ere  presented  from  various  places,  and  a  royal  commission 
was  appointed,  which  undertook  a  searching  and  careful 
inquiry  into  the  nature  and  conduct  of  municipal  institu- 
tions. They  divided  the  country  into  districts  and  made 
local  inquiries  into  each  municipality.  Their  investigation 
was  not  finished  until  1835,  and  their  report  then  published 
was  one  of  the  longest  and  most  elaborate  documents  that  had 
ever  been  published  under  the  authority  of  Parliament.  It 
placed  the  whole  history  of  corporations  before  the  public,  and 
roughly  exposed  the  manifold  abuses  of  irresponsible  power. 

In  all,  285  corporations  were  discovered ;  but  39  of  these 
were  municipal  only  in  name,  from  8  no  reports  had  been 
obtained,  and  London,  being  the  subject  of  a  special  report, 
was  omitted  from  the  general  account.  This  left  237  cor- 
porations whose  affairs  were  subject  to  investigation.1  The 

1  Report,  p.  91. 


58  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

central  fact  brought  out  was  that  the  great  mass  of  the  towns- 
people were  excluded  both  from  corporate  privileges  and 
also  from  any  share  in  the  town  government.  The  corporate 
privileges  possessed  by  the  freemen,  in  addition  to  that  of 
voting  in  parliamentary  elections,  consisted  in  exclusive 
trading  rights,  exclusive  rights  of  pasturage  in  particular 
commons,  and  exemptions  from  tolls  and  market  dues.  The 
value  of  pasturage  enjoyed  by  a  freeman  at  Beverly  was  esti- 
mated at  ,£25  a  year.1  In  Newcastle  the  exemption  from 
tolls  saved  one  merchant  £450  a  year.  The  methods  of 
acquiring  the  title  to  "freedom"  were  many,  and  varied 
greatly  in  the  different  corporations.  In  general,  however, 
they  could  be  acquired  in  the  following  ways :  by  birth  (sons 
of  freemen  were  freemen),  marriage  (sons-in-law  of  freemen 
were  freemen),  servitude  (apprentices  of  freemen  were  free- 
men), purchase,  and  election  by  the  corporation. 

The  last  two  had  become  the  easiest  methods,  and  the 
number  of  freemen  in  the  boroughs  was  very  small.  In  25 
boroughs  the  number  could  not  be  ascertained,  but  in  the 
remaining  212,  which  had  a  population  of  1,800,000,  the 
total  number  of  freemen  was  but  88,509.  Ninety-tw 
boroughs  had  less  than  50  freemen  each.  Liverpool,  wi 
a  population  of  165,000,  had  5000  freemen  ;  but  Cambridge? 
with  20,000  inhabitants,  had  only  194;  arid  Portsmouth,  with 
46,000  inhabitants,  only  102.  In  Marlborough,  a  town  of 
3500,  the  number  of  freemen  was  15,  exactly  the  number  of 
municipal  offices.  In  other  towns,  while  the  total  number 
of  freemen  appeared  to  form  a  somewhat  larger  portion  of  the 
population,  a  large  portion  were  non-residents.  In  Ipswich, 
a  town  of  20,000,  with  1130  freemen,  760  of  the  latter  were 
non-residents;  and  in  Plymouth,  with  31,000  inhabitants, 
145  out  of  437  freemen  were  non-residents.  Nor  did  the 
freemen  make  up  in  character  what  they  lacked  in  numbers. 
They  were  frequently  corrupt  and  inferior,  the  corporations 
admitting  large  numbers  of  such  when  a  general  parliamentary 
election  was  anticipated,  and  the  number  of  freemen  on  their 
side  was  small,  so  as  to  insure  the  election  of  their  candidate. 

1  Report,  pp.  21,  23. 


THE   ENGLISH  BOROUGHS  59 

But  even  the  freemen  had  rarely  any  share  in  the  govern- 
ment. Of  the  211  corporations  which  had  an  active  govern- 
ing body,  that  body  was  elected  by  the  freemen  in  but  twelve. 
In  186  the  government  was  self-elected,  and  in  the  others  it 
was  appointed  by  one  or  two  patrons.  The  typical  constitu- 
tion was  still  that  of  a  mayor,  aldermen,  and  common  coun- 
cil. In  small  boroughs  the  mayor  was  practically  intrusted 
with  the  sole  authority,  and  in  many  boroughs  any  audit  or 
check  on  his  accounts  was  unknown,  although  it  was  noto- 
rious that  the  funds  of  the  boroughs  were  perverted  from 
their  proper  uses.  Soon  after  the  disfranchisement  of  Gram- 
pound  the  mayor  left  the  borough,  took  the  accounts  away 
with  him,  and  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  reappear.1 

The  councils  were  no  less  corrupt  than  the  mayors.  The 
revenues  of  the  boroughs  were  but  partially  applied  to  mu- 
nicipal purposes,  and  were  frequently  expended  on  feasting 
and  on  salaries  of  unimportant  officers.  Pluralism  in  hold- 
ing lucrative  sinecure  offices  was  common.  The  property  of 
the  borough  was  frequently  let  to  members  of  the  council 
under  a  rent  or  at  prices  far  below  its  value.2  "Charities 
were  despoiled  and  public  trusts  neglected;  jobbery  and  cor- 
ruption in  every  form  was  fostered."8  The  property  of  the 
boroughs  was  occasionally  not  sufficient  for  the  corrupt  and 
extravagant  expenditures  of  these  local  oligarchs,  and  some 
corporations  were  absolutely  insolvent.  Few  corporations 
admitted  any  obligation  to  expend  their  surplus  revenue  for 
public  purposes;  and  such  expenditure  was  regarded  as  a 
spontaneous  act  of  private  generosity.* 

A  great  majority  of  the  boroughs  had  local  courts  of 
justice,  and  here,  too,  the  most  whimsical  abuses  existed. 
The  populations  had  commonly  outgrown  the  limits  of  the 
corporate  authority,  leaving  large,  populous  areas  exempt 
from  its  jurisdiction.  The  powers  of  the  courts  had  no  rela- 
tion to  the  importance  of  the  towns ;  in  Bath,  with  a  popula- 
tion of  50,000,  the  local  magistrates  could  not  try  a  felony, 
while  in  Dunwich,  where  lived  232  persons,  the  local  courts 

1  Report,  p.  37.  8  May,  Constitutional  History  of  England,  III,  281. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  45.  *  Report,  p.  45. 


60  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

could  sentence  a  man  to  death.  Illiterate  magistrates  were 
common;  even  the  recorder  was  not  necessarily  a  lawyer. 
The  town  clerk  in  some  cases  exercised  several  incompatible 
functions :  frequently  he  acted  as  recorder  when  that  official 
did  not  consider  it  necessary  to  perform  his  duties ; 1  some- 
times he  acted  as  mayor;  sometimes  as  attorney;  and  at  times 
the  same  man  was  judge,  prosecutor,  and  selector  of  juries.2 

As  a  result  of  their  inquiries  the  commissioners  announced, 
as  their  conclusion,  "  that  there  prevails  among  the  inhabit- 
ants of  a  great  majority  of  the  incorporated  towns  a  general 
and,  in  our  opinion,  a  just  dissatisfaction  with  their  munici- 
pal institutions,  and  a  distrust  of  the  self-elected  municipal 
councils,  whose  powers  are  subject  to  no  popular  control,  and 
whose  acts  and  proceedings,  being  secret,  are  unchecked  by 
the  influence  of  public  opinion."3 

A  bill  founded  on  the  recommendations  of  the  commis- 
sioners was  at  once  prepared  and  introduced  in  the  House  of 
Commons  by  Lord  John  Russell.  The  bill  was  to  apply  to 
183  boroughs  —  London  was  not  included.  It  proposed  to 
sweep  away  the  abuses  laid  bare  by  the  report ;  to  annul  all 
charters  and  customs  inconsistent  with  its  provisions,  and 
to  provide  a  uniform  constitution  for  all  boroughs  to  which 
it  applied.  The  governing  body  in  each  borough  was  to  con- 
sist of  a  mayor  and  council  —  the  councillors  to  be  elected 
by  residents  who  had  been  ratepayers  for  three  consecutive 
years.  The  pecuniary  rights  of  existing  freemen  were  to  be 
preserved,  but  were  not  to  be  continued  to  their  descendants. 
All  exclusive  trading  privileges  were  to  be  abolished.  A 
recorder  would  be  nominated  by  the  Crown  for  any  borough 
providing  an  adequate  salary,  the  recorder  to  be  in  every 
case  a  barrister  of  five  years'  standing.  For  the  manage- 
ment of  charity  estates,  special  committees  were  to  be  chosen, 
not  from  the  council,  but  from  the  burgesses.4 

The  bill  met  with  great  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Tories. 

1  The  recorder  of  Carmarthen  held  his  office  for  fifty  years  without  once 
visiting  the  borough. 

2  Report,  pp.  39-41.  3  Ibid.,  p.  49. 

*  Hansard's  Parliamentary  Debates,  3d  Series,  XXVIII,  541-558. 


THE   ENGLISH  BOROUGHS  61 

Lord  Eldon  thought  it  even  more  iniquitous  than  the  Reform 
Act.  But  Sir  Robert  Peel  declared  himself  in  favor  of  a  large 
measure  of  reform,  and  the  bill  went  through  the  Commons 
by  a  safe  majority.  In  the  House  of  Lords  important  amend- 
ments were  added,  retaining  the  trading  privileges  and  par- 
liamentary franchise,  making  only  those  ratepayers  who  paid 
the  highest  rate  of  assessment  eligible  for  election  to  the 
council,  introducing  aldermen  elected  for  life  into  the  coun- 
cils, and  other  changes.  Lord  Ellenborough  declared  that 
the  corporation  bill  had  been  converted  into  a  "  fully  con- 
sistent and  constitutional  conservative  reform."1 

This  action  of  the  House  of  Lords  irritated  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  threats  to  stop  the  supplies  if  the  corporation 
bill  was  not  passed  had  been  heard.  Some  members  of  the 
Commons  even  went  so  far  as  to  threaten  the  House  of  Lords 
with  extinction.  When  the  reconstructed  bill  was  sent  down 
to  the  House  of  Commons,  Lord  Russell  agreed  to  allow  the 
parliamentary  franchise  of  freemen  to  stand,  but  not  their 
trading  privileges ;  on  the  matter  of  life  aldermen  and  prop- 
erty qualifications  for  councillors,  he  was  willing  to  compro- 
mise, but  on  all  other  important  amendments  he  adhered  to 
the  original  bill.  Peel  supported  his  Tory  colleagues  against 
the  ministry  in  but  two  minor  points ;  on  all  the  important 
amendments  he  occupied  the  same  position  as  Russell. 
Peel's  stand  forced  the  Lords  to  give  way,  a  compromise 
thoroughly  satisfactory  to  the  advocates  of  reform  was  reached, 
and  the  corporation  bill  became  law. 

The  Act  of  1835  2  applied  to  178  cities  and  boroughs,  but 
provision  was  made  for  the  incorporation  of  new  boroughs 
under  the  general  act.  The  governing  body  was  still  to 
consist  of  a  mayor,  aldermen,  and  councillors;  but  instead 
of  the  self-elected  body  with  indefinite  terms,  the  council- 
lors were  to  be  elected  for  a  term  of  three  years,  one-third 

1  Hansard's  Parliamentary  Debates,  3d  Series,  XXX,  1034. 

2  5  &  6  Wm.  IV,  c.  76.    This  applied  only  to  England  and  Wales.    Seventy 
Scots  boroughs  had  been  reconstructed  in  1833  on  the  same  general  lines. 
Subsequent  legislation  on  municipal  affairs  was  generally  applied  to  Scotland 
by  separate  acts  passed  at  the  same  or  the  following  session  of  Parliament. 


62  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

being  chosen  each  year,  and  the  municipal  franchise  included 
all  the  ratepayers  in  the  borough;  the  aldermen  were  to  be 
chosen  by  the  councillors,  one-half  every  three  years  for  a 
term  of  six  years ;  and  the  mayor  was  to  be  elected  annually 
by  the  council.  The  mayor,  aldermen,  and  councillors 
formed  together  the  common  council,  which  sat  as  one  body. 
The  act  also  provided  for  two  auditors  and  two  assessors  to 
be  elected  annually  by  the  burgesses  in  March.  The  town 
clerk,  treasurer,  and  other  officers  were  within  the  appoint- 
ing power  of  the  common  council.  A  property  qualification 
was  required  for  councillors,  aldermen,  auditors,  and  assess- 
ors. The  council  was  authorized  to  levy  a  borough  rate 
when  other  funds  did  not  prove  sufficient.  The  jurisdiction, 
powers,  and  rules  of  procedure  of  the  local  courts  were 
carefully  detailed.  Existing  rights  of  property,  beneficial 
exemptions,  and  the  parliamentary  franchise  were  reserved 
to  freemen  and  their  heirs ;  but  in  future  no  freedom  could 
be  acquired  by  gift  or  purchase. 

M.  D.  Chalmers,  in  his  well-arranged  book  on  Local 
Government,  in  the  English  Citizen  Series,  sums  up  the 
reforms  effected  by  the  Act  of  1835  in  these  words :  "  It  took 
away  magisterial  powers  from  the  aldermen,  provided  that 
the  recorder  should  be  a  trained  lawyer,  abolished  all  trading 
monopolies,  exemptions,  and  restrictions,  shortened  the 
tenure  of  elective  officers,  gave  the  franchise  to  all  inhabit- 
ant ratepayers,  and  provided  for  the  honest  administration 
of  corporate  funds  and  the  efficient  discharge  of  municipal 
duties."1 

By  this  Act,  there  was  provided  for  municipal  government 
in  England  a  permanent  foundation  and  a  stanch  framework. 
But  it  has  not  been  allowed  to  become  a  stereotyped  code, 
incapable  of  being  changed  to  suit  new  circumstances.  From 
time  to  time,  as  experience  showed  the  way,  new  enactments 
amending  the  law  of  1835  were  made  by  Parliament.  These, 
in  some  cases,  made  slight  modifications  in  the  structure  of 
borough  government ;  in  other  cases,  further  provisions  were 
made  to  guard  the  purity  of  elections ;  but  more  usually  these 

1  Chalmers,  Local  Government,  p.  73. 


THE   ENGLISH   BOROUGHS  63 

acts  extended  and  altered  the  scope  and  functions  of  the  town 
councils.  Several  scores  of  such  additional  laws  were  placed 
on  the  statute  books  between  1835  and  1882.  To  codify  these 
various  statutes  relating  to  the  incorporated  towns,  a  care- 
fully drafted  statute  was  passed,  in  1882,  which  consolidated 
the  existing  laws  into  a  simple  and  intelligible  municipal 
code. 

MUNICIPAL  EXPANSION 

The  Municipal  Corporations  Act  of  1835  established  self- 
government  in  the  English  boroughs.  In  connection  with 
the  later  amending  acts  it  enlarged  the  powers  of  the  coun- 
cils over  the  maintenance  of  order  and  the  administration  of 
justice.  But  one  looks  in  vain  through  the  municipal  code 
of  1882  for  any  authority  given  to  the  town  councils  over 
such  matters  as  street  improvements,  public  lighting,  sewer- 
age, waterworks,  and  parks,  which  are,  in  fact,  to-day  their 
most  important  functions.  Moreover,  the  municipal  boroughs 
constitute  by  no  means  all  the  urban  communities  in  Eng- 
land; there  are,  in  addition  to  the  three  hundred  boroughs, 
over  twice  that  number  of  populous  towns,  in  which  the 
whole  local  government  is  carried  on  without  any  reference 
to  the  Municipal  Corporations  Acts  of  1835  and  1882.  A  com- 
plete survey  of  urban  government  requires  a  consideration  of 
the  legislation  under  which  these  smaller  towns  are  governed, 
and  under  which  the  town  councils  of  the  boroughs  find 
authority  for  their  large  municipal  undertakings. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  fact  that,  owing  to 
the  corruption  and  mismanagement  of  the  corporations,  it  had 
been  the  custom  not  to  rely  on  them  for  the  management  of 
the  town ;  but  additional  powers  of  local  government  were 
granted,  from  time  to  time,  by  local  acts  of  Parliament  for 
various  purposes,  not  to  the  officers  of  the  corporation,  but  to 
trustees  or  commissioners  distinct  from  and  independent  of 
them;  and  while  the  former  had  the  nominal  government, 
the  efficient  duties  and  responsibilities  were  transferred  to 
the  latter.  By  1847  nearly  two  hundred  such  local  acts  had 
been  passed,  conferring  on  populous  places  powers  of  local 


64  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

government,  directed  mainly,  at  first,  toward  the  paving, 
lighting,  and  cleaning  of  streets,  and  otherwise  improving 
the  districts;  but  in  all  later  instances  the  importance  of 
sanitary  regulations  and  local  by-laws  was  also  recognized, 
and  authority  given  accordingly.  In  the  older  local  acts  the 
improvement  commissioners  were  appointed  by  name  in  the 
act,  with  power  to  appoint  their  successors;  in  later  acts, 
after  the  reform  of  the  corporations,  the  system  of  election 
by  the  ratepayers  was  introduced.  Usually  one-third  of  the 
commissioners  was  elected  each  year. 

These  special  acts,  each  prepared  for  a  particular  case, 
without  reference  to  similar  acts  for  other  localities,  gave 
widely  different  powers  to  the  various  bodies  of  commission- 
ers. The  first  step  toward  more  general  legislation  was  the 
Lighting  and  Watching  Act  of  1830. *  The  Reform  Parlia- 
ment replaced  this  by  the  Act  of  1833, 2  which  is  still  in 
force,  though  later  acts  have  superseded  it  in  most  districts. 
The  Act  of  1833  was  permissive,  that  is,  its  provisions 
affected  only  those  parishes  in  which  they  were  adopted  by 
resolution  of  the  vestry  duly  convened  for  that  purpose.  In 
parishes  which  adopted  the  act  the  ratepayers  were  enabled 
to  choose  inspectors,  who  appointed  watchmen  and  provided 
for  public  lighting,  with  authority  to  construct  gas-works. 

In  1840  a  select  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  on 
the  health  of  towns  drew  attention  to  the  evils  of  interments 
in  populous  cities,  the  importance  of  water  supply,  the  want 
of  open  spaces  in  crowded  cities,  the  necessity  of  some  super- 
vision over  common  lodging-houses,  and  the  advantages  of 
public  baths.  It  recommended,  further,  health  laws  and  the 
creation  of  local  boards  of  health.3  Other  reports  on  the 
sanitary  condition  of  populous  places4  led  to  the  appointment, 
in  1843,  of  a  royal  commission,  whose  report  showed  the 
inadequacy  of  the  existing  laws  on  drainage,  resulting  in 
unclean liness,  deficiency,  and  impurity  of  water,  especially 
in  the  poorer  parts  of  the  towns ;  while  improvements,  when 
made,  were  at  the  expense  of  the  owners  or  occupiers, 

1  11  Geo.  IV,  ch.  27.  8  Parliamentary  Papers,  1840,  Vol.  XL 

2  3  &  4  Wm.  IV,  ch.  90.  *  Ibid.,  1843,  Vol.  XII. 


THE   ENGLISH   BOROUGHS  65 

whereas  comprehensive  plans  could  have  been  carried  out  for 
one-quarter  the  cost.1 

"Of  the  50  towns  visited  on  behalf  of  the  commission, 
the  drainage  was  reported  bad  in  43,  the  cleansing  in  42,  the 
water  supply  in  32.  In  Liverpool  40,000  and  in  Manchester 
15,000  of  the  working  class  lived  in  cellars,  dark,  damp, 
dirty,  and  ill-ventilated;  Nottingham  contained  11,000 
houses,  of  which  8000  were  built  back  to  back  and  side  to 
side,  so  that  ventilation  was  impossible.  .  .  .  Even  in 
Birmingham,  then  as  now  a  model  town,  the  water  supplied 
to  some  of  the  poorer  districts  is  described  as  being  4  green 
as  a  leek.'  The  result  of  this  state  of  things  was  clearly 
seen.  Whilst  the  death  rate  in  country  districts  was  18.2  per 
thousand,  in  towns  it  was  26.2;  in  Birmingham  and  Leeds 
it  was  27. 2 ;  in  Bristol,  30. 9 ;  in  Manchester,  3?.  7 ;  in  Liver- 
pool, 34. 8.  "2 

There  were  frequent  instances  of  local  commissioners 
neglecting  to  carry  into  effect  the  full  powers  conferred  on 
them.  But,  in  addition,  the  local  acts  were,  for  the  most 
part,  now  entirely  inadequate;  they  rarely  comprised  the 
whole  district  covered  with  buildings,  and  most  of  the  early 
acts  had  no  provision  for  drainage.  Probably  in  many  cases 
the  provisions  of  the  acts  had  been  adequate  for  the  conditions 
at  the  time  of  their  passage ;  but  the  towns  had  been  grow- 
ing rapidly,  and  these  provisions  were  now  far  from  suffi- 
cient. The  total  population  in  communities  of  over  20,000 
inhabitants  had  all  but  trebled  in  the  forty  years  since 
the  beginning  of  the  century.  In  1801  there  had  been  25 
cities  of  over  20,000,  aggregating  2,000,000,  in  the  United 
Kingdom ;  in  1841,  there  were  68  cities  in  this  class,  with  a 
total  population  of  5,800,000. 

The  commission  of  1843  recommended  that  the  local 
authorities  should  be  given  increased  powers;  that  the 
arrangements  for  drainage,  cleansing,  regulating  buildings, 
and  water  supply  should,  in  every  case,  be  under  one 
authority ;  that  there  should  be  compulsory  local  taxes  for 

1  Parliamentary  Papers,  1844,  Vol.  XVII. 

2  Edinburgh  Review,  Vol.  173,  1891,  p.  69. 


66  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

water  supply,  as  well  as  sewerage ;  and  that  there  should  be 
a  critical  inspection  of  sanitary  improvements  in  the  towns 
by  a  central  authority. 

No  legislation  resulted  from  these  reports  until  the  enact- 
ment, in  1847,  of  a  series  of  statutes  known  as  the  Clauses 
Acts.  The  most  important  were  the  Town  Improvement 
Clauses  Act,  the  Town  Police  Clauses  Act,  the  Water- 
works Clauses  Act,  and  the  Gas-works  Clauses  Act.  These 
statutes  consolidated  and  generalized  the  provisions  usually 
found  in  the  special  acts,  and  it  was  provided  that  the  model 
clauses  thus  furnished  could  be  adopted  by  reference  in  sub- 
sequent special  acts.  By  this  means  it  was  made  easier  for 
the  towns  to  frame  bills  for  their  needs,  while  the  special 
statutes  would  be  framed  on  the  same  general  plan. 

A  year  after  the  passage  of  these  Clauses  Acts  a  compre- 
hensive measure  on  the  subject  of  sanitary  legislation  became 
law.  It  was  the  first  great  general  law  on  the  subject,  and 
introduced  large  improvements  in  urban  conditions.  This 
statute1  created  a  general  board  of  health,2  empowered  to 
create — through  the  machinery  of  an  order  in  council  — 
local  boards  of  health  on  the  petition  of  the  ratepayers. 
This  method  of  securing  a  local  administrative  body,  and 
adopting  the  provisions  of  the  act,  was  less  expensive  and 
much  easier  than  the  former  system  of  obtaining  a  special 
act  of  Parliament,  and  so  facilitated  the  creation  of  such 
boards  on  local  initiative.  Moreover,  the  General  Board  of 
Health  was  empowered  to  establish  local  boards  on  its  own 
motion.  In  municipal  boroughs  the  town  council  was,  in 
all  cases,  constituted  the  local  board,  whereas  formerly 
separate  boards  had  frequently  been  established,  with  a 
division  of  power  and  responsibility  which  had  not  proved 
advantageous  to  the  welfare  of  the  towns.  In  places  not 
municipal  boroughs,  the  local  boards  were  elected  by  the  rate- 
payers, under  the  following  system  of  plural  voting. 

Every  person  rated  for  the  poor  rate  as  owner  or  occupier 
at  a  ratable  value  of  less  than  .£50  had  one  vote;  where  the 

1  Public  Health  Act,  1848,  11  &  12  Viet.,  ch.  163. 

2  To  continue  five  years,  and  afterward  renewed  until  1858. 


THE  ENGLISH  BOROUGHS  67 

ratable  value  of  the  property  was  between  £50  and  ,£100, 
the  rate-payer  had  two  votes;  between  £100  and  £150,  three 
votes;  between  £150  and  £200,  four  votes;  between  £200 
and  £250,  five  votes;  over  £250,  six  votes.  Moreover,  any 
person  who  was  owner  and  at  the  same  time  bona  fide  occupier 
of  the  same  property  "  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  both  in  respect 
of  such  ownership  and  of  such  occupation."  In  this  way  one 
person  might  have  as  many  as  twelve  votes.  Official  ballots 
—  voting  papers  —  with  the  names  of  all  persons  nominated 
were  delivered  in  person  to  the  voter  three  days  before  the 
election.  The  voter  indicated  his  choice  and  signed  the 
ballot,  which  was  called  for  by  a  collector  on  election  day. 
This  system  of  plural  voting  with  an  open  ballot  continued 
in  force  for  all  local  elections  —  except  for  town  councils  in 
municipal  boroughs  and,  after  1888,  for  county  councils  — 
until  1894. 

Local  boards  and  town  councils  were  given  power  to 
construct  and  manage  sewers  and  drains,  wells,  pumps, 
water  and  gas  works,  and  slaughter-houses;  to  regulate 
offensive  trades  and  remove  nuisances ;  to  regulate  dwellings 
and  lodging-houses ;  to  pave  and  repair  streets ;  to  provide 
burial  grounds  and  recreation  grounds.  They  were  also 
authorized  to  purchase  land  and  levy  rates  sufficient  to  carry 
out  their  functions.  The  General  Board  of  Health  was  em- 
powered to  appoint  inspectors  and,  in  other  ways,  to  see  that 
the  provisions  of  the  act  were  put  in  force  by  the  local 
authorities.  The  powers  given  were,  in  fact,  freely  used. 
More  especially,  the  construction  of  extensive  municipal 
water  systems  in  the  large  cities  began  about  the  year  1850 ; 
while  in  other  respects  municipal  conditions  were  greatly 
improved. 

The  Act  of  1848  was  frequently  amended  and  extended  by 
later  legislation,  and  a  few  of  the  more  important  amending 
acts  may  be  especially  mentioned.  The  Nuisances  Removal 
Act  of  1855 1  consolidated  the  laws  relating  to  the  removal 
of  nuisances,  which,  curiously  enough,  was  considered  an 
entirely  distinct  subject  from  that  of  sanitary  legislation. 

i!8&19Vict.,ch.  129. 


68  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

This  statute  made  a  fresh  and  extended  definition  of  nui- 
sances, and  increased  the  powers  of  local  authorities.  The 
Local  Government  Act  of  1858 1  "greatly  extended  local 
powers  for  the  execution  of  sanitary  works  in  such  urban 
districts  as  adopted  it,  and  gave,  in  fact,  most  of  the 
requisite  powers  of  police  and  municipal  government,  if  only 
they  were  duly  sought  and  duly  used."2  This  statute  also 
enabled  a  local  board  to  be  created,  with  all  the  powers 
under  the  Act  of  1848  and  its  amendments,  by  the  resolution 
of  the  ratepayers  in  any  district  having  a  denned  boundary, 
without  the  necessity  of  any  sanction  by  the  central  authority. 
The  General  Board  of  Health,  which  had  been  strongly  op- 
posed, was  at  this  time  allowed  to  expire;  and  such  powers 
of  central  control  as  were  retained  were  divided  between  the 
Home  Office  and  the  Privy  Council. 

A  statute  of  1856,  not  connected  with  the  health  legislation, 
led  to  a  great  improvement  in  the  police  of  the  cities,  by  pro- 
viding for  grants  from  the  central  government  to  those  police 
forces  which  came  up  to  the  standard  of  the  inspection 
department  established  in  the  Home  Office. 

The  growth  of  urban  communities  in  the  United  Kingdom 
had  become  even  more  marked  after  the  fourth  decade.  The 
opening  of  railways,  the  expansion  of  commerce  following 
the  free  trade  legislation,  and  the  concomitant  development 
of  the  iron  industry  combined  to  swell  still  further  the  tide 
to  the  cities.  From  1841  to  1871  the  number  of  cities  with 
over  20,000  population  increased  from  68  to  120,  and  the 
aggregate  population  in  such  cities  from  5,800,000  to 
11,200,000.  There  were  by  the  latter  date  16  cities  with 
over  100,000  population,  in  addition  to  London.  The 
metropolis  had  3,250,000,  Glasgow  had  over  500,000,  while 
Birmingham,  'Manchester,  and  Liverpool  had  each  over 
300,000. 

During  the  years  immediately  following  1870  there  ap- 
peared some  significant  advances  in  the  activities  of  the 
municipal  authorities  in  the  larger  cities.  Not  only  were 
the  former  functions  greatly  extended  to  meet  the  demands 

1  21  &  22  Victoria,  ch.  98.  2  Report,  Commission  of  1871,  p.  10. 


THE   ENGLISH   BOROUGHS  69 

of  increased  population,  but  also  new  fields  of  action  were 
undertaken  on  a  large  scale.  The  most  striking  feature  was 
the  schemes  of  physical  betterments  in  some  of  the  larger 
cities,  involving  the  reconstruction  of  both  streets  and  build- 
ings in  large  areas  of  the  cities,  to  secure  more  sanitary  con- 
ditions. It  is  also  in  this  period  that  street  railways  were 
constructed  in  the  British  cities,  under  franchises  and  con- 
tracts with  the  town  councils. 

These  new  developments  were  accompanied  by  important 
parliamentary  legislation.  In  1870  the  Tramways  Act  was 
passed,  regulating  the  conditions  of  street  railway  franchises. 
In  1871  the  central  control  of  local  government  was  placed 
on  a  more  systematic  basis  by  the  creation  of  the  Local  Gov- 
ernment Board,  which  received  authority  formerly  vested  in 
the  General  Board  of  Health,  as  well  as  the  powers  of  the 
Poor  Law  Board.  In  1875  all  of  the  "  sanitary  "  statutes, 
embracing  the  Act  of  1848  and  forty-six  other  acts,  were  con- 
solidated and  enacted  in  a  comprehensive  code.  This  Public 
Health  Act  of  1875 1  also  included  additional  changes  in  the 
law,  in  some  cases  removing  difficulties  of  interpretation, 
and  in  others  adding  to  the  existing  powers  and  obligations 
of  the  Local  Government  Board  and  the  local  authorities. 
This  act  has,  in  turn,  been  frequently  supplemented  by  later 
statutes  amending  and  extending  the  functions  and  authority 
of  the  local  boards  and  town  councils.  But  tlie_Act  of  1875 
is  still  the.  law  of -general  application  relating  to  sanitary 
matters.  In  fact,  it  isjthe  basis  of  the  most  important  func- 
tions of  the  borough  councils  and  of  the  local  government  in 
other  urban  districts. 

An  important  change  in  the  name  and  in  the  method  of 
electing  the  local  authority  in  urban  districts  not  boroughs 
was  made  by  the  Local  Government  Act  of  1894 2  (Parish 
Councils  Bill).  Plural  and  open  voting  were  abolished 
entirely,  and  each  elector  now  has  one  vote  and  no  more. 
The  urban  local  boards  are  called  Urban  District  Councils, 
and  the  term  of  office  of  the  councillors  is  fixed  at  three 
years,  one-third  retiring  each  year,  except  in  special  cases 

1  38  &  39  Victoria,  ch.  55.  2  56  &  57  Victoria,  ch.  73. 


70  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

where  the  county  council  may  direct  that  the  whole  council 
shall  retire  together.  In  the  municipal  boroughs  the  town 
council  remains  the  urban  district  council,  and  its  powers 
and  functions  as  such  are  governed  by  the  same  legislation 
which  controls  the  councils  in  urban  districts  not  boroughs. 

The  functions  of  the  urban  district  councils  may  be  briefly 
recapitulated :  they  include  sewerage,  drainage,  water  supply, 
gas-works,  inspection  and  prevention  of  nuisances,  inspec- 
tion and  regulation  of  lodging-houses,  hospitals,  cemeteries, 
the  maintenance,  cleansing,  lighting,  and  improvement  of 
streets,  the  regulation  of  traffic,  and  town  improvements. 
The  borough  councils  have,  in  addition,  the  management  of 
ancient  borough  funds  and,  in  most  cases  also,  the  control 
of  the  local  police,  subject  to  the  inspection  of  the  Home 
Office. 

Poor  relief  and  the  public  schools  are  in  no  case  functions 
of  the  English  municipal  borough.  The  work  of  poor  relief 
is  administered  under  the  control  of  the  Local  Government 
Board,  by  boards  of  poor  law  guardians  elected  in  districts 
known  as  poor  law  unions,  this  system  dating  from  1834. 
The  poor  law  unions,  except  in  a  few  of  the  largest  cities, 
include  rural  as  well  as  urban  territory.  The  public  school 
system  dates  only  from  1870,  and  the  schools  in  each  city 
or  school  district  are  under  the  control  of  a  board,  elected 
entirely  independent  of  the  town  council  or  other  local 
authority. 

While  a  large  part  of  the  municipal  work  in  London  has 
been  accomplished  through  the  adoption  of  the  general  sani- 
tary statutes,  by  parishes  or  union  of  parishes,  the  need  for 
a  central  administration  for  the  entire  metropolitan  district 
in  certain  matters  has  required  additional  legislation.  The 
first  important  step  was  the  creation  of  the  Metropolitan 
Police,  in  1829,  which  is  under  the  direct  control  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  State  for  the  Home  Department.  In  1855  the 
Metropolitan  Board  of  Works,  composed  of  46  delegates 
from  the  parish  and  district  boards,  was  created  to  construct 
and  manage  main  drainage  works,  bridges,  main  thorough- 
fares, parks,  and  other  general  improvements,  and  to  control 


THE   ENGLISH   BOROUGHS  71 

the  fire  brigade.  In  1888  this  board  was  abolished,  and 
its  place  taken  by  the  London  County  Council,  a  body  of 
137  members,  consisting  of  118  councillors,  elected  directly 
by  the  ratepayers,  and  19  aldermen,  elected  by  the  coun- 
cillors. The  County  Council,  in  addition  to  the  functions 
of  the  former  Board  of  Works,  has  a  large  variety  of  duties 
over  the  administrative  county  of  London.  In  1900  the 
41  metropolitan  parishes  and  districts  were  consolidated 
into  28  municipal  boroughs,  whose  functions  are,  however, 
limited  by  the  powers  of  the  County  Council.  In  addition 
to  these  authorities  there  is  a  school  board  of  55  members, 
30  boards  of  poor  law  guardians  within  the  county  of  London, 
and  the  ancient  and  still  active  city  corporation. 

The  concentration  of  population  in  towns,  which  gave  rise 
to  the  pressing  municipal  problems  in  British  towns  early  in 
the  nineteenth  century,  has  continued  with  unabated  force. 
Towns  of  20,000  and  over  have  increased  from  25  in  1801, 
68  in  1841,  and  120  in  1871,  to  210  in  1891 ;  and  the  aggre- 
gate population  of  such  towns  has  grown  from  2,000,000 
in  1801  and  5,800,000  in  1841  to  almost  18,000,000  in  1891. 
In  1901  the  population  of  the  administrative  county  of  Lon- 
don is  4,536,000;  Glasgow  has  nearly  760,000;  Liverpool* 
684,000;  Birmingham  and  Manchester,  each  over  500,000r 
the  total  population  of  the  urban  area  of  which  Manchester 
is  the  centre  being  nearly  1,000,000.  Leeds,  with  428,000, 
Sheffield,  with  380,000,  Bristol,  with  328,000,  and  Edinburgh, 
with  316,000,  rank  next  in  importance.  Twenty-eight  other 
towns,  each  with  over  100,000  inhabitants,  bring  the  aggre- 
gate population  in  cities  of  this  size  up  to  12,000,000,  nearly 
thirty  per  cent  of  the  total  population  of  the  United  King- 
dom. The  administration  of  municipal  affairs  in  such  places 
presents  manifold  and  weighty  problems.  And  we  shall  find 
that  the  British  cities,  which  were  the  first  to  feel  the  modern 
urban  movement,  have  been  in  many  respects  the  most  suc- 
cessful in  meeting  the  needs  of  the  situation. 


CHAPTER   V 
MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

Authorities.  —  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies  in  History  and  Politics.  — 
D.  F.  WILCOX  :  Municipal  Government  in  Michigan  and  Ohio.  —  S.  E. 
SPARLING  :  The  Government  of  Chicago.  —  E.  D.  DURAND  :  The  Finances 
of  New  York  City.  —  F.  J.  GOODNOW  :  Comparative  Administrative  Law. 
—  Municipal  Home  Rule.  —  Municipal  Problems.  —  Proceedings  of  Con- 
ferences for  Good  City  Government.  —  J.  A.  FAIRLIE  :  In  Municipal 
Affairs,  II,  341. 

THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD 

AMERICAN  municipal  government  has  its  historical  origin 
in  the  chartered  boroughs  or  municipal  corporations l  estab- 
lished in  several  of  the  English  colonies  during  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries.  Records  show  the  creation, 
by  charter,  of  twenty  such  corporations,  but  of  these  two  had 
merely  an  ephemeral  existence,2  and  three  others  were  of 
slight  importance  during  the  colonial  period.3  Of  the  active 
boroughs,  the  first  in  time  was  New  York,  which  dates  its 
civic  existence  from  1653,  became  an  English  municipal  cor- 
poration in  1665,  and  received  its  first  charter  in  1686. 
Albany  received  its  charter  in  the  same  year  as  New  York  ; 
the  first  recorded  charter  of  Philadelphia  was  granted  in 
1691 ;  four  smaller  boroughs  were  incorporated  in  Pennsyl- 
vania,4 and  five  in  New  Jersey ; 5  while  in  the  Southern 
colonies  there  were  Annapolis  in  Maryland,  and  Norfolk, 

1  The  word  "  borough  "  is  used  as  a  general  term  for  the  municipalities  of 
the  colonial  period  to  emphasize  their  connection  with  the  English  boroughs  ; 
for  later  periods  the  present  American  custom  is  followed  by  the  use  of  the 
word  "  city." 

2  Agamenticus  (1641)  and  Kittery  (1647),  both  in  the  province  of  Maine. 

3  Germantown,  Pa.,  Bath,  N.C.,  and  Trenton,  N.J. 

4  Germantown,  Chester,  Bristol,  and  Lancaster. 

5  Perth  Amboy,  New  Brunswick,  Burlington,  Elizabeth,  and  Trenton. 

72 


MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE   UNITED   STATES       73 

Williamsburg,  and  Richmond  in  Virginia.  The  latest 
charter  in  colonial  times  was  that  to  Trenton,  N.J.,  in 
1746. 

These  charters  granted  by  the  provincial  governors  were 
on  the  same  legal  basis  as  the  royal  charters  to  English  bor- 
oughs, and  the  earlier  theory  seems  to  have  been  that  the 
municipal  corporations  were  not  subordinate  to  the  assemblies. 
The  form  of  organization  provided  resembled  in  its  general 
features  the  English  municipal  organization  of  the  same 
period.  The  principal  authority  was  the  common  council, 
composed  of  the  mayor,  recorder,  aldermen,  and  assistants,  or 
councilmen.  These  acted  as  a  single  body,  a  quorum  requir- 
ing the  attendance  of  the  mayor  and  a  specified  number  of 
both  aldermen  and  councilmen.  The  mayor  and  aldermen 
had  certain  judicial  functions  in  addition  to  their  duties  as 
part  of  the  common  council,  which  had  control  of  all  matters 
of  administration. 

In  one  respect  most  of  the  American  colonial  boroughs 
differed  from  the  prevailing  English  system.  Only  in  Phila- 
delphia, Annapolis,  and  Norfolk  was  the  governing  authority 
made  a  close  corporation.  In  these  places  the  aldermen  and 
councilmen  held  their  positions  for  life,  and  vacancies  among 
the  aldermen  were  filled  by  the  corporation  (i.e.  by  the  com- 
mon council),  and  for  councilmen  by  the  mayor,  recorder, 
and  aldermen.  In  all  the  other  boroughs,  however,  the 
councilmen  and,  except  in  Perth  Amboy  and  Trenton,  the 
aldermen  also  were  elected  by  a  popular  vote  under  a  fran- 
chise which  everywhere  included  all  of  the  well-to-do  classes, 
and  generally  a  large  proportion  of  the  residents,  though  in 
no  case  was  manhood  suffrage  established.  Elective  alder- 
men and  councilmen  were  chosen  for  terms  of  one  year,  except 
in  Elizabeth,  where  the  term  was  three  years,  and  Trenton, 
where,  strangely  enough,  it  was  for  life. 

The  mayor,  however,  was  in  no  case  chosen  by  popular  vote. 
The  close  corporations  had,  as  in  English  boroughs,  the 
power  of  electing  their  mayors  from  the  existing  aldermen  ; 
and  the  elective  council  in  Elizabeth  had  the  same  authority. 
In  the  other  boroughs,  where  the  members  of  the  council  were 


74  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

elected,  the  mayor  was  regularly  appointed  by  the  governor 
of  the  province,1  and  the  choice  fell  frequently  upon  a  former 
alderman.  Whether  elected  or  appointed,  the  mayor's  term 
was  in  all  cases  a  single  year  ;  but  in  practice  reappointments 
were  frequent,  and  during  the  latter  part  of  the  colonial 
period  the  mayors  of  New  York  and  Albany  generally  held 
the  position  continuously  for  ten  years. 

Special  charter  powers  of  the  mayor  were  not  of  great 
importance.  He  had  no  power  of  appointment  unless  dele- 
gated by  the  council ;  and  he  had  no  veto  over  the  acts  of 
the  council  —  in  Philadelphia  he  did  not  even  have  a  vote. 
But  he  presided  at  all  meetings  of  the  council,  and  his  pres- 
ence was  necessary  to  constitute  a  quorum  ^  he  was  charged 
with  executing  the  ordinances  of  the  council ,-  in  New  York 
and  Albany  he  controlled  the  licensing  of  taverns ;  and  he 
frequently  held  ex  officio  minor  offices.  These  conditions 
tended  to  centre  the  administration  to  a  considerable  degree 
in  his  hands ;  while  his  influence  in  municipal  affairs  was 
further  increased  by  the  fact  that  he  was  usually  a  man  of 
much  experience  in  the  affairs  of  the  corporation,  and  that  in 
practice  he  held  office  for  a  number  of  years.  Thus,  even 
during  the  colonial  period,  the  mayor  became  something  more 
than  a  dignified  figurehead,  and  was  a  real  force  in  the 
municipal  government. 

The  functions  of  these  colonial  boroughs,  like  those  of  the 
English  municipal  corporations,  included  judicial,  legislative, 
and  administrative  duties.  The  judicial  functions  were  of 
comparatively  greater  importance  than  at  present.  The 
mayor,  recorder,  and  aldermen  were  each  justices  of  the  peace 
during  their  term  of  office,  and  as  such  had  the  usual  sum- 
mary jurisdiction  over  petty  criminal  and  civil  cases.  In 
addition  to  this  the  mayor,  recorder,  and  aldermen  of  each 
borough  sitting  together  formed  a  local  court  of  record,  with 
stated  sessions  for  the  trial  of  more  important  cases,  and  in 
some  instances  the  same  officials  were  also  members  of  the 

1  During  the  Leysler  troubles  in  New  York  province,  mayors  were  elected 
by  popular  vote  in  the  cities  of  New  York  (1688  and  1689)  and  Albany  (1689)  ; 
but  appointment  was  restored  in  1690. 


MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE   UNITED   STATES       75 

county  courts.  The  councilmen  or  assistants  had  no  share 
in  the  exercise  of  these  judicial  functions. 

Legislative  powers  of  the  municipal  corporations  were 
limited  to  the  authority  to  establish  local  ordinances,  not 
repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England  or  the  assembly  of  the 
province.  These  were  mainly  police  ordinances  for  the 
maintenance  of  order  and  the  prevention  of  nuisances,  such 
as  rules  against  fast  driving,  regulating  the  cleaning  and 
paving  of  streets  by  the  householders,  and  requiring  precau- 
tions to  be  taken  against  fires.  But  there  were  also  ordi- 
nances fixing  the  prices  of  food  (a  survival  of  the  survey  of 
victuals)  and  (in  Albany)  ordinances  regulating  trading 
with  the  Indians ;  while  others  attempted  to  guard  the 
morals  of  the  community  by  requiring  the  observation  of 
the  Lord's  Day  and  (in  Philadelphia)  forbidding  theatrical 
performances. 

The  administrative  powers  of  the  colonial  corporations, 
like  their  legislative  authority,  were  almost  exclusively  over 
matters  of  special  interest  to  the  small  fr&ban  communities, 
and  seldom  included  any  of  those  matters  for  which  there 
was  a  general  system  over  the  entirW^ovince.  Thus  the 
management  of  the  militia,  the  administration  of  the  poor 
laws,  and  the  assessment  of  the  taxes  levied  J>y  the  assemblies 
were  in  no  case  subjects  of  municipal  action.  The  borough 
authorities  were  all  empowered  to  hold  markets  and  fairs ; 
several  of  them  were  authorized  to  establish  ferries,  and  New 
York,  Albany,  and  Philadelphia  controlled  the  local  docks 
and  wharves.  During  the  eighteenth  century  other  local 
needs  became  pressing  in  the  larger  places,  and  as  the  char- 
ters conferred  no  authority  in  these  matters,  the  corporations 
found  it  necessary  to  secure  special  grants  of  power,  which, 
however,  came  now  not  from  the  governors,  but  from  the 
colonial  assemblies.  Under  these  statutes,  adding  to  their 
chartered  powers,  the  more  important  towns  entered  upon 
some  new  lines  of  activity  :  the  constructions  of  drains,  the 
paving  of  streets,  the  purchase  of  fire  engines,  and  toward 
the  end  of  the  colonial  period  the  provision  of  street  lamps 
and  the  establishment  of  a  night  watch.  In  Philadelphia 


76  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

surveyors  for  regulating  the  construction  of  party  walls  were 
authorized  as  early  as  1721. 

These  grants  from  the  assemblies  to  the  municipalities, 
while  increasing  the  actual  functions  of  the  latter,  tended  to 
change  the  relative  status  of  the  two  authorities,  making  the 
municipalities  subordinate  to  the  assemblies,  though  as  yet  it 
was  not  recognized  that  a  legislative  assembly  could  pass  an 
act  contrary  to  a  charter  provision.  The  prime  cause  of  the 
change  was  the  fact  that  the  municipal  corporations  had  in 
no  case  a  charter  granting  the  power  of  taxation,  and  when 
they  desired  to  enter  upon  undertakings  involving  taxation, 
they  could  not  proceed  until  authority  to  tax  was  secured. 
The  colonial  legislatures  do  not  seem  to  have  hesitated  in 
granting  the  desired  authority  whenever  needed,  and  the 
local  authorities  were  probably  not  seriously  hampered  in 
their  activities  by  the  necessity  of  securing  special  grants. 
By  the  close  of  the  colonial  period  all  the  more  important 
municipalities  had  received  authority  to  levy  certain  taxes. 
But  as  yet  the  power  was  granted  only  for  specific  purposes, 
usually  with  a  strict  limitation  of  the  amount  of  each  tax, 
and  often  restricting  the  levy  to  a  certain  number  of  years. 

Thus  even  during  the  colonial  period  we  may  see  the 
beginning  of  a  distinctive  American  development  differen- 
tiating the  municipalities  in  the  colonies  from  those  of  Eng- 
land. Close  corporations  were  the  exception ;  the  mayor 
was  already  an  active  official  in  the  city  government ;  cen- 
tral control  over  the  municipalities  existed  from  the  first  in 
the  governors'  power  of  appointing  mayors ;  while  the  way 
was  paved  for  a  more  active  control  through  the  special  legis- 
lation of  the  assemblies  in,  response  to  the  demand  of  the 
municipalities  for  larger  powers  than  those  conferred  in  their 
charters. 

Several  urban  districts  in  the  colonies  remained  without 
the  special  organization  or  charter  of  the  English  borough. 
Boston  and  other  New  England  urban  centres  found  the 
town-meeting  system  of  the  rural  communities  sufficiently 
elastic  for  municipal  purposes.  Under  this  system  the 
"freeholders  and  other  inhabitants  assembled"  in  town- 


MUNICIPAL   DEVELOPMENT   IN   THE   UNITED   STATES       77 

meeting  were  not  merely  electors:  they  constituted  a  de- 
liberative body  on  all  questions  of  town  government.  They 
discussed,  amended,  adopted,  or  rejected  orders  and  bylaws ; 
they  determined  the  purposes  for  which  public  money  should 
be  expended,  down  to  the  smallest  details ;  and  they  fixed 
the  exact  amount  to  be  raised  by  taxation.  The  nearest 
analogy  to  a  mayor  was  the  moderator  of  the  town-meeting ; 
but  his  duties  were  purely  those  of  a  presiding  officer.  The 
principal  administrative  work  was  performed  by  the  pruden- 
tial or  executive  committee  known  as  the  selectmen ;  the 
overseers  of  the  poor,  and  later  the  school  committee,  were 
also  committees  of  the  town -meeting,  while  there  was  in 
addition  a  goodly  number  of  minor  and  unsalaried  offices. 
As  Baltimore,  Md.,  and  Charleston,  S.C.,  became  suffi- 
ciently populous  to  demand  special  measures,  these  were 
decided  on  by  the  assemblies  of  the  respective  colonies,  and 
carried  out  by  legislative  commissions.  The  Baltimore 
Board  of  Town  Commissioners,  seven  persons  named  by 
the  assembly  in  1754  for  life,  directed  the  administrative 
affairs  of  that  growing  port.  Possibly  this  legislative  action 
was  preferred  to  charters  of  incorporation  from  a  royal  gov- 
ernor because  of  the  growing  opposition  to  the  latter  official 
in  the  years  preceding  the  war  for  independence.  It  is  cer- 
tainly significant  that  no  municipal  charter  was  issued  in 
any  of  the  colonies  after  1746. 

1775-1829 

The  revolt  of  the  colonies  from  Great  Britain  and  the  new 
state  governments  brought  about  several  changes  in  munici- 
pal government.  The  substitution  of  elected  for  appointed 
governors  changed  the  significance  of  the  appointment  of 
mayors,  and  in  New  York  State  the  power  of  appointment 
was  transferred  from  the  governor  to  a  state  executive 
council ;  but  there  was  no  immediate  attempt  to  transfer 
the  selection  of  such  mayors  from  the  state  to  a  locality. 

Of  more  importance  was  the  change  in  the  charter-granting 
power.  Immediately  after  the  Revolution  there  appeared 
a  number  of  municipal  charters:  in  1783,  Charleston,  S.C.; 


78  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

in  1784,  New  Haven,  Hartford,  Middletown,  New  London, 
and  Norwich,  Conn.,  Newport,  R.I.  (temporarily),  and 
Nashville,  Tenn.;  in  1785,  Hudson,  N.Y.  The  charters 
of  incorporation  for  these  were  not,  however,  issued  by 
the  state  governors,  but,  as  was  to  be  the  universal  rule  in 
the  United  States,  by  the  state  legislatures,  in  the  same 
manner  as  statutory  acts.  By  this  change  these  charters 
could  not  claim  the  privileges  of  a  special  grant  which 
could  not  be  violated :  they  were  simply  legislative  statutes, 
and  as  such  liable  to  be  altered,  changed,  or  revoked  by 
subsequent  statutes.  There  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
much  discussion  on  this  change  in  the  charter-granting 
power ;  the  way  had  been  prepared  by  the  frequent  addi- 
tional grants  of  authority  by  colonial  assemblies  to  corpora- 
tions chartered  by  executive  authority ;  and  the  tendency  of 
the  new  state  governments  was  so  strongly  in  favor  of  the 
legislature  and  against  the  executive,  that  the  new  custom 
was  established  without  question. 

The  organization  and  powers  provided  for  in  these  first 
legislative  charters  followed  very  closely  the  charters  and 
powers  of  the  existing  municipalities,  and  there  are  no  im- 
portant developments  in  municipal  organization  or  functions. 
It  is  not  surprising  to  learn  that  none  of  the  new  cities  were 
to  be  governed  by  close  corporations ;  and  the  principle  of 
an  elected  council  was  now  firmly  established  as  a  funda- 
mental rule  in  American  municipal  government.  Even  the 
close  corporations  of  the  colonial  days  were  not  permitted 
to  continue.  In  1787  the  Virginia  legislature  passed  an 
act  declaring  that  "  the  former  method  of  electing  common 
councilmen  for  the  borough  of  Norfolk  is  judged  impolitic 
and  unconstitutional,"  1  and  providing  for  election  by  the 
freeholders  and  inhabitants  of  the  borough  qualified  to  vote 
for  burgesses  of  the  assembly.  In  1789  Philadelphia  re- 
ceived a  new  charter  from  the  state  legislature,  which  like- 
wise provided  for  popular  election  of  the  municipal  council. 
These  statutes  are  also  significant  as  marking  the  complete 
legal  supremacy  of  the  legislatures  over  the  municipalities, 

i  Hening,  Statutes  of  Virginia,  XII,  p.  602. 


MUNICIPAL   DEVELOPMENT   IN  THE  UNITED   STATES       79 

since  not  even  the  existing  charters  are  recognized  as  barring 
any  measure  the  legislature  might  feel  disposed  to  enact. 
Property  rights  were,  however,  retained. 

In  the  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  was  a 
new  series  of  municipal  charters.  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  became 
a  city  in  1795,  Baltimore  in  1797,  Savannah  and  Augusta, 
Ga.,  in  1798.  The  Baltimore  charter  and  an  amendment  to 
the  Philadelphia  charter  passed  in  1796  mark  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  bicameral  system  into  municipal  government.  In 
Philadelphia  the  legislative  power  was  vested  in  select  and 
common  councils,  both  elected  on  general  ticket,  in  neither 
of  which  the  mayor,  recorder,  or  aldermen  found  a  part.  In 
Baltimore  one  house  of  the  municipal  council  was  composed 
of  two  members  from  each  of  the  eight  wards,  elected  annu- 
ally; while  the  other  house  was  elected  by  a  miniature 
electoral  college,  which  also  elected  the  mayor,  even  after 
this  method  was  abolished  for  the  second  council,  and  the 
federal  government  was  still  further  imitated  by  giving  the 
mayor  a  veto  over  the  acts  of  the  city  council.  The  parallel 
was  not,  however,  strictly  followed  in  the  matter  of  appoint- 
ments ;  for  while  the  final  selection  was  by  the  mayor,  he 
was  restricted  to  two  candidates  for  each  office,  nominated 
by  the  council.  All  of  these  points  mark  the  beginnings  of 
important  developments  in  American  municipal  organization. 

During  the  first  two  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century  we. 
find  no  further  important  changes  in  municipal  organization. 
Indeed,  during  these  years,  there  were  but  few  new  munici- 
pal charters  issued,  and  so  far  as  these  departed  from  the 
earlier  type,  it  was  by  the  adoption  of  some  of  the  innova- 
tions already  noted.  In  1805  the  territorial  legislature  of 
Louisiana  issued  to  New  Orleans  a  charter  of  the  American 
type,  which  replaced  the  earlier  French  and  Spanish  political 
machinery.  This  charter  provided  for  a  single  board  of 
elected  aldermen,  with  a  mayor  and  recorder  appointed  by 
the  governor  of  the  territory,  and  in  other  respects  also  fol- 
lowed the  earlier  charters.  The  first  city  charter  of  Detroit, 
enacted  in  1806,  but  which  remained  in  force  only  until  1809, 
contained  some  of  the  new  features  of  the  Baltimore  charter. 


80  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

The  city  council  was  made  bicameral,  —  each  chamber  having 
three  members,  —  and  the  mayor  was  given  an  absolute  veto 
power.  But  the  mayor  was  to  be  appointed  by  the  territorial 
governor,  as  in  New  Orleans  and  most  of  the  important  colo- 
nial charters,  while  the  mayor  was  to  appoint  all  the  city 
officers  except  the  register.  The  first  charter  of  Pittsburg 
(1816)  followed  very  closely  the  Philadelphia  government 
as  reorganized  in  1796,  providing  for  a  bicameral  council 
which  elected  the  mayor. 

Up  to  this  time  the  operations  of  municipal  governments 
in  the  United  States  had  undergone  no  marked  transforma- 
tion from  those  of  the  colonial  period.  With  the  growth  of 
the  larger  cities  there  was  of  course  a  gradual  increase  in 
the  amount  of  public  activity ;  but  this  did  not  mean  the 
assumption  of  new  functions,  and  even  in  the  largest  cities 
municipal  government  stood  for  vastly  less  than  cities  of  half 
their  population  to-day.  New  York  city,  which  in  1810  had 
a  population  of  nearly  100,000,  expended  in  all  but  $100,000  ; 
while  to-day  cities  of  100,000  population  have  an  annual 
expenditure  of  from  $1,000,000  to  $2,000,000.  In  the  coun- 
try as  a  whole  municipal  problems  were  even  less  important. 
As  late  as  1820  there  were  but  thirteen  towns  in  the  United 
States  with  over  8000  population,  and  their  combined  popu- 
lation was  less  than  500,000,  barely  five  per  cent  of  the 
entire  population  of  the  country.  Only  six  cities  had  over 
20,000  population,  and  these  aggregated  only  345,000. 

The  petty  housekeeping  of  such  small  urban  communities, 
which  in  the  aggregate  composed  but  an  insignificant  part 
of  the  entire  country,  could  not  become  a  matter  of  intense 
public  interest.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  under 
these  circumstances  municipal  elections  should  become  in- 
volved in  the  more  active  party  struggles  of  the  times.  In 
New  York  city,  at  least,  the  first  conflicts  on  politics,  state 
and  national,  were  mirrored  in  the  local  elections.  At  the 
same  time  the  spoils  system  was  early  established  as  a  prin- 
ciple of  municipal  office-holding.  In  the  harmonious  feder- 
alist days  Richard  Varick  had  held  the  office  of  mayor  for 
twelve  years,  following  the  precedent  of  the  colonial  times ; 


MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE   UNITED   STATES       81 

but  with  the  party  strifes  which  set  in  at  the  beginning  of 
the  new  century,  the  appointment  of  mayor  was  considered 
at  Albany  as  a  legitimate  spoil,  and  as  often  as  the  political 
complexion  of  the  state  council  of  appointment  changed,  New 
York  city  had  a  new  executive.  From  1801  to  1823  the 
mayor  was  changed  nine  times.  The  local  elections,  although 
held  in  April,  were  occasions  for  bitter  contests  between  the 
rival  parties  ;  frequently  almost  the  entire  membership  of 
the  council  would  be  changed  ;  and  when  in  1804  the  Demo- 
crats first  secured  control  of  the  council,  a  caucus  of  the 
majority  promptly  voted  "  unanimously "  to  remove  all  but 
one  -of  the  city  officers.1 

As  the  net  results  of  municipal  development  during  the 
first  forty  years  after  American  independence  was  accom- 
plished, we  find :  1,  the  disappearance  of  close  corporations 
and  the  definite  establishment  of  the  principle  of  locally 
elected  councils ;  2,  the  supremacy  of  the  state  legislatures 
over  municipal  charters  and  the  powers  of  the  municipali- 
ties ;  3,  the  beginnings  of  bicameral  councils  and  of  the 
veto  power  of  the  mayor;  and  4,  the  subordination  of 
municipal  affairs  to  the  issues  of  national  and  state  politics. 

1820-1850 

The  new  constitution  for  the  state  of  New  York,  adopted 
in  1821,  made  an  important  change  in  municipal  government 
in  that  state.  Heretofore  the  mayors  of  New  York  cities 
had  been  appointed  by  a  state  authority,  following  the  sys- 
tems laid  down  in  the  first  charters  of  New  York  and 
Albany;  but  henceforth  they  were  to  be  elective  by  the 
common  council  in  each  city.  This  method,  as  has  been 
noted,  was  already  employed  in  other  American  cities,  more 
especially  in  those  incorporated  since  1780.  But  the  adop- 
tion of  this  system  in  the  five  cities  of  the  now  largest  state 
in  the  Union  marks  an  important  step  in  the  transition  from 
state-appointed  to  locally  chosen  mayors  ;  and  from  this 
time  we  may  date  the  definitive  adoption  of  the  latter  as  a 
principle  of  American  municipal  government. 

1  Durand,  Finances  of  New  York  City,  p.  39. 
G 


82  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

Three  new  municipal  charters  enacted  within  the  next 
three  years  went  a  step  further,  and  inaugurated  the  move- 
ment for  the  election  of  city  mayors  by  popular  vote.1  These 
were  the  first  charters  of  Boston  and  St.  Louis,  issued  in 
1822,  and  that  of  Detroit  in  1824.  In  none  of  these  in- 
stances did  the  popularly  elected  mayor  have  any  materially 
enlarged  powers,  either  in  the  way  of  appointment  or  of 
vetoing  council  ordinances ;  and  in  some  respects  he  might 
have  less  influence  than  a  mayor  chosen  by  the  council,  since 
the  latter  must  have  had  the  confidence  of  the  council  to 
secure  his  position.  But  the  new  method  of  selection  served 
to  give  the  mayor  a  more  distinct  and  independent  place  in 
the  municipal  government,  and  prepared  the  way  for  the 
larger  powers  to  come,  when  council  government  became 
unsatisfactory.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  second 
mayor  of  Boston  —  Josiah  Quincy  —  did  by  his  personal  in- 
fluence and  industry  secure  the  concentration  in  his  own 
hands  of  the  control  and  responsibility  for  the  administra- 
tion of  the  city  ;  but  this  was  only  a  temporary  foretaste  of  the 
mayor  of  later  times.  The  principle  of  electing  the  mayor  by 
popular  vote  was,  however,  quickly  apprehended  and  adopted 
both  in  charters  for  newly  created  cities  and  for  older  mu- 
nicipalities. The  mayor  of  Philadelphia  was  made  elective 
in  1826,  the  mayor  of  Baltimore  in  1833,  and  the  mayor  of 
New  York  in  1834. 

Some  other  features  of  the  charters  of  Boston,  St.  Louis, 
and  Detroit  should  be  noted.  St.  Louis  and  Detroit  had 
single-chambered  councils,  in  which  were  vested  the  powers 
of  the  municipality.  Boston,  on  the  other  hand,  adopted 
the  bicameral  system,  apparently  not  so  much  in  imitation 
of  the  state  government  as  an  adaptation  of  the  previous 
town  government  —  the  common  council  acting  as  a  repre- 
sentative body  for  the  town-meeting,  and  the  mayor  and 
aldermen  taking  the  place  of  the  selectmen.  It  was  probably 

1  In  some  Connecticut  cities  before  this,  mayors  were  chosen  by  popular 
election  ;  but  they  held  office  at  the  pleasure  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
state,  which  meant  practically  life  positions.  Under  this  rule,  New  Haven 
had  but  four  mayors  from  1784  to  1826,  two  of  whom  died  in  office. 


MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES       83 

also  on  account  of  this  development  from  town  government 
that  the  mayor  and  aldermen  had  no  judicial  functions  as  in 
other  municipalities  —  a  rule  which  has  been  followed  in 
subsequent  Massachusetts  charters. 

In  1830  a  new  charter  for  the  city  of  New  York,  prepared 
by  a  popular  convention  and  ratified  by  popular  vote,  went 
into  effect.  This  separated  the  council  into  two  branches, 
"  for  the  same  reason  which  has  dictated  a  similar  division  of 
power  into  two  branches,  each  checking  and  controlling  the 
other,  in  our  general  government."  1  It  also  gave  the  veto 
power  to  the  mayor,  and  provided  that  the  executive  business 
of  the  municipality  should  be  performed  by  separate  depart- 
ments organized  and  appointed  by  the  council.  This  last 
provision  proved  to  be  too  indefinitely  worded  to  be  enforced  ; 
and  although  departments  were  formally  organized,  the 
municipal  administration  remained  as  before  almost  wholly 
in  the  control  of  the  council  committees.  The  change  to  an 
elective  mayor,  already  noted,  was  also  recommended  at  this 
time ;  but  as  a  constitutional  amendment  was  required  for 
this  purpose,  the  change  was  not  effected  until  1834. 

The  rapid  growth  of  cities  as  a  result  of  the  development 
in  transportation  is  seen  in  the  record  of  new  municipalities 
and  their  charters  about  this  time.  Forty  of  the  cities  which 
now  have  a  population  of  30,000  or  more  received  their  first 
charter  in  the  two  decades  from  1830  to  1850.  Nine  of  these 
were  in  New  England,  where  the  development  of  manufac- 
turing centres  had  increased  population  beyond  the  capacity 
of  the  town-meeting ;  five  were  in  New  York  State ;  the 
same  number  in  Ohio ;  four  in  Illinois ;  and  almost  every 
state  was  represented  by  one  or  two  cities.  With  the  multi- 
plication of  cities  at  such  a  rate,  it  becomes  impossible  in 
this  outline  to  note  even  the  most  important  features  of  the 
municipal  organization  for  each,  and  a  few  examples  must 
be  taken  as  illustrations  of  the  development  at  this  and  sub- 
sequent periods.  The  charters  of  Cleveland  (1836),  Chicago 
(1837),  and  Milwaukee  (1846)  may  be  taken  as  representa- 
tives of  the  new  cities  established  during  the  two  decades 

1  Address  of  the  Convention  of  1829. 


84  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

before  1850.  Each  of  these  charters  provided  for  a  mayor 
elected  by  popular  vote ;  and  that  principle  may  be  consid- 
ered by  this  time  as  definitely  established  in  the  United 
States.  In  Chicago  and  Milwaukee  the  council  consisted 
of  aldermen  only,  elected  by  wards ;  in  Cleveland  there  were 
councilmen  elected  by  wards  and  also  aldermen  elected  on 
general  ticket;  but  these  sat  as  a  single  chamber,  showing 
that  the  bicameral  system  —  although  adopted  in  St.  Louis 
in  1839  —  was  still  the  exception  in  American  municipal 
government.  The  municipal  administration  in  all  of  these 
cases  was  under  the  control  of  the  council,  which  determined 
the  policy  of  the  city,  appointed  the  executive  officers,  and 
controlled  their  action  through  council  committees.  It 
should  also  be  noted  that  by  the  close  of  this  period  the 
property  qualifications  for  the  municipal  suffrage  had  in  most 
cases  disappeared. 

The  functions  of  municipal  governments  had  been  some- 
what enlarged  during  this  period,  especially  in  the  larger 
cities.  New  York  had  constructed  the  Croton  aqueduct, 
the  first  large  municipal  undertaking  in  any  country  to  fur- 
nish an  abundant  water  supply.  Several  cities  had  estab- 
ished  a  small  and  ill-organized  body  of  day  police  in  addition 
to  the  night  watch.  Large  volunteer  fire  companies  had 
been  organized  in  most  of  the  important  towns,  and  were 
furnished  appliances  and  aided  in  other  ways  by  the  mu- 
nicipal authorities.  In  some  cases,  municipal  councils  now 
appointed  the  school  boards  and  poor  relief  officials;  but 
even  in  such  cases  they  continued  to  be  regarded  as  authori- 
ties distinct  from  municipal  government. 

These  additional  activities  necessarily  meant  a  larger 
amount  of  municipal  taxation  than  had  existed  in  the  early 
part  of  the  century  ;  and  the  necessity  for  a  regular  system 
of  municipal  taxation  was  recognized  in  most  cases  by  a  gen- 
eral grant  of  the  taxing  power  for  any  of  the  enumerated 
powers  of  the  municipal  government,  in  place  of  the  former 
system  of  special  authorizations  for  definite  amounts  for 
specified  purposes.  The  general  grant  was  often  limited  to 
a  certain  percentage  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  city ; 


MUNICIPAL   DEVELOPMENT  IN   THE    UNITED   STATES       85 

but  this  limitation  was  sufficiently  flexible  to  allow  for  an 
increase  of  taxation  with  the  development  of  the  cities, 
though  resort  still  had  to  be  made  to  the  legislature  for  fur- 
ther authority  whenever  a  city  wished  to  go  beyond  the  powers 
enumerated  in  the  charter.  For  New  York  city,  however, 
this  change  to  a  general  authorization  was  not  yet  made  ; 
each  year  a  special  act  was  passed  by  the  state  legislature 
empowering  the  city  to  collect  by  taxation  specified  amounts 
for  the  appropriations  passed  by  the  city  council,  and  although 
up  to  this  time  these  annual  acts  had  been  largely  formal, 
and  passed  with  little  or  no  change  from  the  bills  submitted 
by  the  city,  the  procedure  did  not  give  the  city  full  liberty 
of  action. 

But  even  where  there  was  no  limitation  of  the  amount  of 
the  taxes  which  a  municipality  could  levy,  there  was  always 
the  restriction  that  taxation  could  be  used  only  for  the  spe- 
cific purposes  enumerated  in  the  charter  and  special  legisla- 
tive acts.  Municipal  development  along  the  new  lines  of 
activity  made  necessary  by  rapid  growth  was  thus  often 
seriously  hampered  by  the  need  for  securing  special  legisla- 
tion authorizing  the  city  to  undertake  additional  functions. 
The  system  of  constantly  resorting  to  the  legislature  was 
transferring  the  real  decision  on  all  important  questions  of 
municipal  policy  from  the  city  councils  to  the  state  legisla- 
tures ;  while  the  general  tendency  of  the  legislation  to  enter 
into  minute  detail  still  further  reduced  the  discretionary 
powers  of  the  local  officials,  leaving  them  mainly  administra- 
tive duties  to  perform.  The  extent  of  this  special  legislation 
by  the  middle  of  the  century  may  be  indicated  by  the  record 
of  the  Ohio  legislature,  which  during  the  session  of  1849  to 
1850  passed  545  special  and  local  acts. 

The  main  features  of  municipal  development  during  the 
period  from  1820  to  1850  may  be  summarized  as  follows  : 
1,  the  change  in  the  manner  of  choosing  mayors  to  election 
by  popular  vote  ;  2,  the  limited  extension  of  the  bicameral 
system  of  council  organization  ;  3,  the  general  adoption  of 
manhood  suffrage  ;  4,  some  expansion  of  municipal  activity ; 
and  5,  the  corresponding  development  of  special  legislation. 


86  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

1850-1870 

By  the  middle  of  the  century  the  development  of  urban 
communities  in  the  United  States  had  become  marked. 
Within  thirty  years  the  population  in  cities  of  over  8000 
had  increased  from  500,000  to  over  3,000,000,  and  the  per- 
centage of  the  total  population  in  such  towns,  from  4.93  to 
12.49.  Cities  of  over  20,000  population  had  increased  in 
number  from  six  to  twenty-nine,  and  their  aggregate  popula- 
tion from  345,000  to  over  2,000,000.  The  more  important 
centres  had  reached  the  dimensions  of  large  cities.  New 
York  had  over  500,000  inhabitants ;  Philadelphia  county 
over  400,000  ;  while  Boston  and  Baltimore  were  the  centres 
of  urban  districts  of  over  200,000  each. 

This  expansion  of  urban  population  was  of  its  own  force 
making  municipal  conditions  and  municipal  government  a 
much  more  important  matter  in  the  country  than  formerly  ; 
but  beginning  about  the  year  1850  there  appeared  a  decided 
tendency  toward  the  adoption  of  new  municipal  functions, 
and  the  rapid  development  of  former  activities  which  still 
further  accentuated  the  importance  of  municipal  govern- 
ment. Along  with  this  development  went  changes  in  munici- 
pal organization,  and  a  steady  increase  in  special  legislation 
with  significant  features,  which  mark  the  two  decades  from 
1850  to  1870  as  a  distinct  period  in  American  municipal 
history. 

Of  the  advance  in  municipal  functions,  we  may  note  the 
organization  in  New  York  of  the  first  disciplined  police  force 
for  any  American  city  in  1845,  and  the  establishment  in  the 
same  year  and  in  the  same  city  of  a  paid  fire  brigade  ;  the 
construction  of  the  Cochituate  water-works  for  Boston, 
begun  in  1846,  and  the  municipal  water  supplies  of  Chicago 
(1851)  and  of  Baltimore  (1854);  the  establishment  of  large 
public  parks  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore. 
Similarly,  in  other  important  cities,  disciplined  police  forces, 
paid  fire  departments,  and  extensive  water-works  and  sewer 
systems  appeared  ;  while  the  scope  of  former  municipal  ac- 
tivities, such  as  street  paving,  schools,  and  poor  relief,  was 


MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES       87 

rapidly  increased,  as  indicated  by  the  rising  tide  of  expendi- 
tures, taxation,  and  municipal  debt.  The  introduction  of 
street  railways  and  the  establishment  of  large  systems  of  gas 
supply  by  private  companies  also  date  from  this  period. 

We  have  already  noted  slight  tendencies  toward  a  change 
in  the  position  of  the  mayor  in  the  municipal  organization 
from  the  earlier  colonial  period.  We  have  now  to  observe 
in  connection  with  the  development  of  municipal  functions, 
and  in  complete  revisions  of  several  important  municipal  char- 
ters soon  after  the  year  1850,  other  more  important  changes 
in  municipal  organization,  which  decreased  the  powers  of  the 
council,  and  threw  much  of  the  municipal  administration 
into  the  hands  of  a  series  of  independent  boards.  Something 
in  this  direction  was  inevitable  with  the  increase  in  the  mass 
of  municipal  work,  which  made  detailed  supervision  of  all 
by  any  single  authority  impossible.  Even  where  the  coun- 
cil remained  nominally  in  complete  control,  the  active  ad- 
ministration was  bound  to  fall  more  and  more  away  from 
the  body  as  a  whole  to  its  committees,  each  of  which  would 
become  very  largely  independent.  But  this  inevitable  ten- 
dency was  powerfully  strengthened  by  more  direct  statu- 
tory measures. 

In  the  first  place,  the  special  statutes  providing  for  the 
extension  of  municipal  action  entered  into  greater  and  still 
greater  detail  of  means  and  method,  thus  depriving  the 
municipal  councils  of  their  main  functions  of  a  legislative 
character,  and  making  the  state  legislatures  the  real  policy- 
determining  power  for  the  cities.  This  remained  the  general 
rule  in  the  face  of  the  first  attempts  to  substitute  general  for 
special  legislation.  In  1851,  Ohio  and  Virginia  adopted  con- 
stitutional provisions  forbidding  special  legislation,  and  a 
year  later  the  Ohio  Assembly  passed  the  first  general  Munici- 
pal Corporations  Act  in  the  United  States.  But  even  this 
act  placed  Cincinnati  in  a  class  by  itself ;  while  by  imposing 
strict  limitations  on  the  taxing  and  borrowing  powers  of  the 
cities,  it  failed  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  growing  urban  com- 
munities. Particular  cities  demanded  additional  powers, 
and  these  were  granted  by  statutes  applying  nominally  to  a 


88  MUNICIPAL    HISTORY 

class  of  cities,  but  with  the  system  of  classification  extended 
so  as  to  evade  the  constitutional  prohibition.  Some  other 
states  adopted  similar  constitutional  prohibitions  of  special 
legislation  :  Iowa  in  1857,  Kansas  in  1859,  Florida  in  1865, 
Nebraska  in  1867,  and  Arkansas  in  1868.  But  these  were  all 
new  states  with  no  large  cities. 

In  the  second  place,  the  administration  of  many  municipal 
functions  was  conferred  by  statute  on  special  departments 
wholly  or  partly  independent  of  the  city  council.  Pre- 
viously the  school  and  poor  relief  authorities  had  often  been 
more  or  less  independent  of  the  council,  and  the  same  posi- 
tion was  now  given  to  other  branches  of  municipal  work. 
New  York  and  Cleveland  perhaps  went  farthest  in  this 
direction.  In  New  York  a  new  charter  issued  by  the  state 
legislature  in  1849  created  a  dozen  executive  departments, 
the  heads  of  which  were  chosen  by  popular  vote ;  in  Cleve- 
land, under  the  general  law  of  1852,  the  mayor,  city  marshal, 
civil  engineer,  fire  engineer,  treasurer,  auditor,  solicitor, 
police  judge,  superintendent  of  markets,  the  board  of  water- 
works trustees,  and  three  street  commissioners  were  all 
elected.  In  Chicago  the  water  board  established  in  1851 
was  so  thoroughly  independent  of  the  council  that  it  had 
its  own  borrowing  power.  Detroit  entered  on  its  period 
of  government  by  independent  elective  boards  in  1857. 
The  new  charters  to  Philadelphia  and  Boston  in  1854  did 
not,  however,  take  any  aggressive  steps  in  this  direction ; 
but  they  agreed,  as  well  as  the  other  important  charters 
mentioned,  in  giving  to  the  mayor  a  limited  veto  power  over 
council  ordinances.  A  few  years  later  the  mayor  was  given 
in  certain  important  cities  the  power  of  appointing  the  heads 
of  executive  departments,  subject  to  the  consent  of  the 
council,  or  of  one  chamber  of  a  bicameral  council.  This 
system  was  established  in  Chicago  and  New  York  in  1857, 
and  in  Baltimore  for  some  offices  the  year  following.  The 
mayor  did  not  have  complete  control  or  responsibility  under 
this  method ;  but  the  change  was  in  the  direction  of  adding 
to  the  mayor's  power  rather  than  of  restoring  the  former 
system  of  council  government. 


MUNICIPAL   DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE   UNITED   STATES       89 

The  precise  reasons  for  the  movement  away  from  the 
council  government  are  not  easy  to  ascertain.  The  general 
movement  toward  democracy  and  popular  election,  which 
was  at  its  height  about  1850,  probably  was  one  force  leading 
toward  elective  officials ;  the  contemporaneous  reorganiza- 
tion of  municipal  functions  was  rather  an  opportunity  than 
a  cause  for  the  change ;  yet  there  could  hardly  have  been 
such  a  general  movement  if  council  government  had  been 
entirely  satisfactory.  Certainly,  after  this  date,  there  is 
much  complaint  against  the  councils  in  the  discharge  of  the 
powers  still  in  their  control.  In  some  cities  the  principal 
authority  remaining  was  that  of  granting  franchises  and 
leases  and  entering  into  contracts  —  an  authority  of  no 
little  importance  at  that  period  of  street  railway  beginnings 
and  the  rapid  extension  of  gas  lighting.  But  in  granting 
such  franchises  the  councils  often  neglected  the  interests  of 
the  city  to  an  amazing  degree,  and  charges  of  jobbery  and 
corruption  were  frequent.  In  New  York  four  important 
street  railways  were  chartered  in  1851-1852,  without  limita- 
tion as  to  the  duration  of  the  franchise  or  compensation  for 
the  use  of  the  streets.  The  New  York  example  was  generally 
followed  in  other  cities,  except  in  Baltimore,  where  the  far- 
sighted  Mayor  Swann,  by  the  hint  of  his  veto  power,  secured 
an  agreement  for  the  payment  to  the  city  of  one-fifth  of  the 
gross  receipts  of  the  street  railway  chartered  in  1860. 

Beginning  about  the  end  of  the  decade  1850-1860  we 
find  further  important  measures  in  the  legislative  control  of 
several  large  municipalities,  marking  in  some  respects  the 
highest  degree  of  such  control.  These  measures  provided 
for  special  legislative  commissions  or  boards,  appointed  by 
state  authority,  to  conduct  certain  important  branches  of 
municipal  administration.  The  first  action  of  this  kind  was 
in  New  York.  In  1856  the  legislature  when  passing  the 
annual  tax  law  for  New  York  city  had  for  the  first  time  made 
changes  in  the  bill  submitted  by  the  municipal  authorities. 
The  next  year  a  state  park  commission  for  New  York  city 
and  a  state  metropolitan  police  board  for  New  York,  Brook- " 
lyn,  and  adjoining  counties  were  established,  supplanting 


90  MUNICIPAL  HISTOKY 

the  city  departments  ;  while  the  control  of  the  courts  and 
judicial  administration  of  New  York  county  (coterminous 
with  the  city)  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  board  of  super- 
visors, elected  by  a  system  which  gave  the  minority  party 
half  of  the  board. 

Three  years  later  (1860),  the  Maryland  legislature  estab- 
lished a  state  police  board  for  Baltimore.  A  year  later, 
the  Illinois  legislature  reorganized  the  Chicago  police  force 
and  placed  it  under  a  board,  the  first  members  of  which  were 
appointed  by  the  governor.  In  1865  the  Detroit  police  was 
placed  under  a  state  commission ;  and  the  New  York  legisla- 
ture added  to  its  former  legislation  for  New  York  city  by 
placing  the  fire  brigade,  health  department,  and  licensing 
of  liquor  saloons  under  state  commissions.  A  similar  state 
commission,  which  lasted  for  but  two  years,  was  created  for 
Cleveland  in  1866.  In  1870  the  Pennsylvania  legislature 
created  a  state  commission  to  construct  a  new  city  hall  for 
Philadelphia. 

In  all  of  these  instances  the  state  commissions  had  not 
only  complete  control  of  the  detailed  administration,  but 
also  determined  the  general  policy  to  be  carried  out  in  their 
department  (so  far  as  the  statutes  left  any  room  for  discre- 
tion); and  when  in  New  York  city  the  city  council  at- 
tempted to  limit  their  activity  by  refusing  appropriations, 
the  legislature  restored  the  amounts  requested  by  the  com- 
missions to  the  city  tax  law,  and  directed  the  mayor  and 
comptroller  to  make  the  payments.  So  far  had  legislative 
action  gone  that  during  the  late  sixties  the  council  of  New 
York  city  had  control  over  less  than  one-sixth  of  the  munici- 
pal expenditure. 

This  system  of  government  of  municipalities  by  legislative 
commissions  was  enacted  on  the  score  of  mismanagement  and 
maladministration  on  the  part  of  the  local  authorities ;  and 
in  many  cases  such  charges  had  no  small  foundation  in  fact, 
so  that  the  situation  justified  some  form  of  state  control.  It 
is  by  no  means  so  clear,  however,  that  the  method  of  control 
provided  did  secure  an  impartial  and  effective  check  on  wrong- 
doing ;  while  it  is  certain  that  the  prevailing  motives  for  the 


MUNICIPAL   DEVELOPMENT   IN  THE   UNITED   STATES       91 

measures  taken  were  too  often  partisan  in  character,  and  that 
the  administration  of  the  state  commissions  was  in  conse- 
quence directed  as  much  toward  securing  party  advantage  as 
efficient  government.  The  situation  in  Chicago  may  be  taken 
as  illustrative  :  In  1861  the  Republicans  controlled  the  state 
government,  and  the  new  board  of  police  appointed  by  the 
governor  was,  in  consequence,  composed  of  Republicans.  In 
1863  the  Democrats  gained  control  of  the  state,  and  passed 
an  act  reducing  the  term  of  the  police  commissioners  from 
six  to  three  years,  by  which  action  the  board  became  evenly 
divided  between  the  two  parties,  while  the  Democrats  hoped 
ultimately  to  obtain  complete  control.  But  in  1865  the 
Republicans  were  again  in  power  in  state,  city,  and  county  ; 
and  new  acts  were  passed  restoring  the  six-year  term  to  the 
police  commissioners,  providing  that  new  commissioners 
should  be  elected  by  the  voters  of  Cook  County,  —  which  was 
less  liable  to  become  Democratic  than  the  city  of  Chicago,  — 
and  placing  the  fire  department  under  the  control  of  the 
board  of  police. 

The  real  explanation  of  most  of  this  partisan  legislation  is 
found  in  the  continued  existence  of  the  spoils  system,  whereby 
public  administrative  offices  of  all  kinds  were  used  as  re- 
wards for  party  workers,  and  were  distributed  to  strengthen 
the  party  rather  than  to  secure  efficient  administration. 
With  the  expansion  of  municipal  activity  the  number  of 
positions  in  the  large  cities  available  as  rewards  to  the  party 
which  controlled  the  local  government  was  greatly  increased  ; 
and  this  made  each  of  the  large  cities  a  strategic  point,  the 
possession  of  which  was  of  great  importance  to  the  national 
parties  in  their  struggle  for  the  control  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment. This  situation  was  responsible,  in  large  part,  for  the 
creation  of  state  commissions  and  much  of  the  detailed  leg- 
islation for  cities.  It  was  also  responsible  for  the  complete 
subordination  of  local  to  national  questions  in  municipal 
elections,  which  was  made  more  effective  in  many  cases  by 
making  local  elections  coincident  with  national  elections  in 
November,  whereas  local  elections  had,  in  general,  formerly 
come  in  the  spring  months. 


92  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

Municipal  development,  during  the  period  from  1850  to 
1870,  is  marked  by :  1,  the  rapid  extension  of  municipal 
functions ;  2,  the  constant  growth  of  special  legislation ; 
3,  the  steady  decline  of  the  council ;  4,  the  tendency 
toward  the  disintegration  of  city  government  into  indepen- 
dent departments,  with  no  unity  or  harmony  of  purpose  or 
action ;  and  5,  the  growing  influence  of  the  spoils  system. 

1870-1900 

Until  1870  the  problems  of  municipal  government  in  the 
United  States  seem  to  have  been  met  in  a  haphazard  way, 
with  no  adequate  comprehension  of  the  significance  or  impor- 
tance of  the  new  conditions  produced  by  the  large  aggrega- 
tions of  urban  population.  The  years  since  1870  are  marked 
by  more  serious  consideration  and  appreciation  of  the  prob- 
lems, and  by  the  introduction  of  beneficial  improvements 
in  the  municipal  system. 

Perhaps  the  heated  strife  over  slavery,  the  Civil  War,  and 
reconstruction  had  something  to  do  with  the  extreme  partisan 
measures  that  have  been  noted.  Certainly,  after  1870,  there 
is  noticeable  a  distinct  movement  against  the  tide  of  partisan 
and  special  legislation  for  cities,  which  may  have  been  due 
to  the  calmer  tone  of  national  politics,  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
may  have  been  simply  the  inevitable  revulsion  from  the 
extreme  measures  of  the  previous  decade.  The  municipality 
of  New  York,  which  had  been  legislated  into  almost  noth- 
ingness, received  a  new  charter  in  1870,  abolishing  the  state 
commissions  and  for  the  first  time  giving  that  city  a  general 
power  of  taxation  ;  and  although  the  immediate  effect  was 
to  give  the  Tweed  ring  in  New  York  free  sway  for  its 
schemes  of  plunder,  the  charter  of  1873  made  no  attempt 
to  revive  the  state  commissions. 

The  state  commissions  for  other  cities  were  not  abolished 
at  this  time  ;  but  the  movement  against  legislative  control 
of  municipalities,  in  the  form  of  constitutional  prohibitions 
of  special  municipal  legislation,  gained  ground.  Illinois 
adopted  such  a  provision  in  1870,  West  Virginia  in  1872, 


MUNICIPAL   DEVELOPMENT  IN   THE   UNITED   STATES       93 

Texas  and  Pennsylvania  in  1873,  New  Jersey  and  Missouri 
in  1875,  California  and  Louisiana  in  1879.  The  amendments 
to  the  Missouri  and  California  constitutions  allowed  the 
largest  cities  to  frame  their  own  charters  ;  the  amendment  to 
the  Louisiana  constitution,  on  the  other  hand,  did  not  apply 
to  New  Orleans.  Some  other  states  adopted  somewhat  dif- 
ferent constitutional  provisions,  aimed  more  or  less  definitely 
at  the  evils  of  special  legislation. 

In  Illinois  the  prohibition  of  special  legislation  seems  to 
have  affected  results,  and  under  the  general  Municipal  Cor- 
poration Act  of  1872  the  detailed  organization  of  the  cities 
in  that  state  was  left  to  the  municipal  councils.  But  in  other 
states  the  various  constitutional  provisions  were  not  always 
successful.  It  was  early  recognized  by  the  courts  that  laws 
applying  only  to  a  certain  class  of  cities  complied  with  the 
requirement  for  general  laws,  and  such  classes  were  quickly 
created  by  statute,  each  class  being  under  different  methods 
of  organization  and  with  different  degrees  of  authority. 
Notably  in  Ohio,  the  scheme  of  classification  was  elaborated 
to  such  a  degree  as  to  pass  special  legislation  for  each  par- 
ticular city  under  the  form  of  laws  for  a  class  of  cities  ;  and 
the  old  system  of  special  statutes  for  each  additional  grant  of 
power  to  a  municipality,  or  even  for  a  change  in  the  detail  of 
executing  existing  powers,  has  remained  much  as  before. 

The  decade  1870-1880  witnessed  the  reorganization  of 
municipal  government  in  many  important  cities.  The  New 
York  charter  of  1870  was  followed,  after  the  overthrow  of 
the  Tweed  ring,  by  an  amended  charter  in  1873  ;  and  Brook- 
lyn also  received  a  new  charter  in  the  latter  year.  Revised 
charters  were  enacted  for  Richmond  in  1872,  for  Milwaukee 
and  Pittsburg  in  1874,  and  for  Springfield,  Mass.,  in  1877 ; 
Chicago  adopted  the  Illinois  General  Act  in  1875,  and  in 
1876  St.  Louis  received  a  new  organic  law  framed  (under  the 
constitutional  provision)  by  a  city  convention,  and  adopted 
by  popular  vote.  These  charters  all  agreed  in  providing  for 
the  appointment  of  many  officials  by  the  mayor,  subject  to 
the  consent  of  the  council.  In  St.  Louis  the  mayor,  who 
was  given  a  four-year  term,  had  at  the  beginning  of  the 


94  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

third  year  of  his  term  the  power  of  appointing  the  important 
department  heads  with  the  consent  of  the  council. 

In  several  instances  the  mayor  had  also  the  power  of  re- 
moving such  officials  on  definite  charges,  the  mayor  of  Rich- 
mond having  this  limited  power  of  removal  with  no  power  of 
appointment.  In  Brooklyn  the  mayor  could  suspend,  but 
could  not  remove,  officials  ;  and  in  New  York  the  mayor 
could  remove  only  with  the  approval  of  the  governor  of  the 
state.  Most  of  the  new  charters  also  agreed  in  giving  £o  the 
mayor  a  limited  veto  power  over  council  ordinances,  subject 
to  a  two-thirds  or  three-fourths  vote  of  the  council.  These 
measures  were  tending  to  centralize  municipal  authority  in 
the  mayor ;  but  the  necessity  for  securing  council  confirma- 
tion for  his  appointments,  and  the  restrictions  on  the  removal 
power,  proved  to  be  serious  limitations,  which  left  the  admin- 
istrative departments  still  to  a  large  degree  independent,  and 
with  no  one  who  could  be  held  directly  responsible  for  mis- 
takes or  mismanagement. 

By  these  changes  the  powers  of  the  councils  were  becom- 
ing of  smaller  importance  than  ever.  Those  of  Chicago  and 
other  Illinois  cities  were  exceptional  in  having  the  power 
to  determine  the  internal  organization  of  the  administration. 
New  York  returned  to  the  single-chambered  council,  and 
this  continued  the  more  general  form.  St.  Louis,  however, 
had  a  bicameral  council,  one  body  chosen  on  general  ticket 
and  one  by  wards. 

Two  distinct  advances  were  made  in  the  New  York  charter 
of  1873.  One  was  the  creation  of  a  board  of  estimate  and 
apportionment,  consisting  of  the  mayor,  comptroller,  presi- 
dent of  the  board  of  aldermen,  and  president  of  the  depart- 
ment of  taxes  and  assessments.  This  board  had  complete 
control  over  the  preparation  of  the  budget,  and  at  once 
became  the  determining  authority  in  municipal  expenditures, 
and  thus  the  effective  centre  for  the  entire  municipal  govern- 
ment. The  second -advance  was  the  prohibition  on  the  re- 
moval of  members  of  the  police  force  and  the  fire  brigade, 
except  for  cause,  thus  restricting  in  some  degree  the  opera- 
tions of  the  spoils  system. 


MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED   STATES       95 

The  census  of  1880  demonstrated  that  22.5  per  cent  of  the 
entire  population  of  the  United  States  was  in  the  286  cities 
of  over  8000  population;  that  there  were  99  cities  with 
over  20,000  inhabitants  and  with  a  total  population  of  over 
9,000,000  ;  and  that  as  many  as  20  cities  had  over  100,000 
population.  The  rapid  expansion  of  commerce  and  industry 
resulting  from  the  organization  of  through  railroad  routes 
and  the  development  of  marine  transportation  had  just  begun, 
and  was  to  continue  with  unabated  force  until  the  end  of 
the  century,  causing  still  further  development  in  urban  com- 
munities. 

Municipal  functions  have  developed  even  more  rapidly 
than  urban  population  during  the  last  twenty  years.  Not 
only  have  police  corps,  fire  brigades,  water  supplies,  and  street 
paving  come  to  be  provided  in  the  newer  cities,  and  to  be 
greatly  extended  in  older  cities,  but  new  standards  of  effi- 
ciency have  arisen  which  have  required  a  development  far 
beyond  that  accounted  for  by  the  growth  of  population. 
This  development  has  been  most  noticeable  in  respect  to 
fire  brigades  and  street  paving.  Only  ten  cities  of  over 
30,000  population  in  the  United  States  now  depend  on 
volunteer  companies  for  fire  protection  ;  street  paving  is 
now  recognized  as  a  necessity  not  only  for  the  business 
sections  of  large  cities,  but  also  for  the  residence  localities  in 
even  comparatively  small  communities ;  and  highway  con- 
struction includes,  in  addition  to  streets  and  small  bridges, 
huge  steel  and  masonry  viaducts  over  broad  streams,  railroad 
tracks,  and  low-lying  places,  and  in  recent  years  under- 
ground routes  have  also  become  necessary  in  the  largest 
cities. 

In  other  departments  the  advance  from  former  stand- 
ards of  municipal  activity  has  been  so  great  as  to  con- 
stitute practically  new  fields  of  action.  Public  education 
has  been  entirely  reorganized,  and  elementary  schools  have 
been  supplemented  by  tax-supported  high  schools  and  free 
public  libraries.  Poor  relief  has  been  organized  and  clas- 
sified and  special  institutions  created  for  different  needs. 
Extensive  public  parks  are  now  general  in  all  important 


96  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

cities,  while  the  larger  places  have  in  addition  connecting 
boulevards  and  many  small  parks  in  the  congested  districts. 
Street  lighting  by  electricity,  street  cleaning,  and  garbage 
disposal  are  important  municipal  functions  almost  unknown 
a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  The  supply  of  light,  heat,  and 
power  to  the  community,  and  the  provisions  for  local  transit, 
have  also  become  questions  of  intense  public  interest  in 
cities ;  and  although  in  most  cases  the  immediate  control  of 
these  utilities  is  in  the  hands  of  private  corporations,  there 
has  been  public  action  in  the  granting  of  franchises  for  the 
use  of  the  streets,  while  in  a  few  cities  municipalities  operate 
gas  and  electric  light  works. 

This  advance  in  municipal  activity  has  inevitably  been 
accompanied  by  a  corresponding  increase  in  municipal  ex- 
penditure and  taxation,  and  to  such  a  degree  that  municipal 
finances  have  become  of  no  less  significance  than  the  national 
budget.  The  total  annual  expenditure  of  New  York  city 
amounts  to  over  $100,000,000,  and  this  sum  is  equalled  by 
the  aggregate  expenditures  of  the  seven  other  cities  with 
over  400,000  population.  The  smaller  cities  expend  less  per 
capita  than  the  large  cities  ;  but  their  budgets  are  also  for 
much  larger  amounts  than  those  of  cities  of  the  same  popu- 
lation a  few  decades  ago.  This  expenditure  (which  is  met, 
for  the  most  part,  by  the  general  property  tax  and  special 
assessments  on  real  estate)  and  the  municipal  activities 
which  it  represents  are  made  possible  by  the  vast  increase 
in  the  value  of  urban  property,  which  has  grown  even  more 
rapidly  than  urban  population. 

Of  the  recent  changes  in  municipal  organization,  the  most 
general  has  been  the  tendency  to  concentrate  authority  and 
responsibility  in  the  mayor.  In  1882  the  mayor  of  Brooklyn 
was  given  the  absolute  power  of  appointing  the  principal 
department  heads  for  that  city.  Two  years  later,  the  same 
power  was  given  to  the  mayor  of  New  York  city,  and  by 
1890  this  principle  had  been  established  in  Long  Island  City. 
Ithaca,  Syracuse,  and  Utica ;  while  in  some  other  cities  the 
mayor  had  the  absolute  power  of  appointment  for  some  posi- 
tions, though  for  most,  the  confirmation  of  the  council  was 


MUNICIPAL   DEVELOPMENT    OF   THE  UNITED   STATES      97 

necessary.  In  1891  the  mayor's  absolute  power  of  appoint- 
ment was  established  in  Buffalo ;  in  1895  in  Boston  for 
most  of  the  principal  positions ;  and  since  then  in  Lowell, 
Holyoke,  and  Quincy  (Mass.),  the  four  cities  of  the  second 
class  in  New  York  State,1  and  other  cities.  At  the  same 
time,  however,  other  recent  charters,  including  those  for 
Philadelphia  (1887)  and  Baltimore  (1897),  repeat  the 
former  requirement  that  mayors'  appointments  must  secure 
council  confirmation,  and  this  remains  the  more  general 
rule. 

The  correlative  principle  of  the  mayor's  complete  power  of 
removing  department  heads  —  necessary  to  establish  his  full 
responsibility  —  has  been  established  in  even  fewer  instances 
than  the  absolute  power  of  appointment.  In  1895  the  mayor 
of  New  York  was  given  this  removal  power  for  the  first  six 
months  of  his  term,  the  same  rule  was  renewed  in  the  charter 
of  1897  for  the  enlarged  city,  and  in  1901  this  power  was 
extended  over  his  whole  term.  The  mayor  of  Boston  has, 
since  1895,  had  the  absolute  power  of  removal,  and  dating 
from  1900  the  mayors  of  New  York  second-class  cities  have 
the  power  of  removal  for  cause  specified  in  the  order  of 
removal.  Elsewhere  the  removal  of  department  heads  within 
the  term  of  their  appointments  can  be  accomplished  only  on 
proven  charges  of  serious  maladministration  ;  and  there  is  no 
effective  control  over  the  operations  of  the  various  depart- 
ments except  such  as  may  be  exercised  by  party  leaders  in 
the  interests  of  the  party. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  mayor's  veto  power  is  now  well 
established;  and  by  the  later  charters,  the  veto  may  be 
applied  to  particular  items  in  an  appropriation  bill,  so  that 
the  importance  of  a  measure  as  a  whole  need  not  be  the  ex- 
cuse for  allowing  objectionable  items  to  pass.  Generally  a 
two-thirds  or  three-fourths  vote  of  the  council  will  pass  a 
bill  over  the  mayor's  veto  ;  but  in  Cincinnati  and  Dubuque 
a  four-fifths  vote  is  required,  and  in  New  York  city  a  five- 
sixths  vote. 

In  the  development  of  systematic  financial  procedure,  also, 

1  Rochester,  Syracuse,  Albany,  and  Troy. 


98  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

the  large  cities  have  made  noticeable  progress.  The  audit- 
ing and  accounting  department  has  become  almost  the  centre 
of  the  municipal  finances ;  and  its  head  —  generally  called 
the  Comptroller — is  an  elective  official,  even  in  places  where 
the  mayor  has  the  most  extended  appointing  power.  In 
budget  procedure  the  New  York  idea  of  a  small  board  of 
estimate,  of  which  the  mayor  and  comptroller  are  the  leading 
members,  has  been  extensively  imitated.  Boston,  Baltimore, 
Buffalo,  New  Haven,  Detroit,  Indianapolis,  Minneapolis, 
Sacramento,  Superior,  Holyoke,  Worcester,  Saginaw,  Cleve- 
land, Columbus,  Toledo,  and  the  four  New  York  second-class 
cities  have  each  some  such  board,  though  in  a  few  cases  the 
councils  still  exercise  full  power  of  amending  the  budget 
submitted.  Chicago,  Duluth,  Dubuque,  Omaha,  and  Minne- 
apolis are  important  cities  where  council  committees  still 
determine  the  budget,  often  paying  scant  attention  to  esti- 
mates or  recommendations  from  the  administrative  officials. 
In  the  smaller  cities  the  council  remains  the  central  organ  in 
financial  as  in  other  municipal  business. 

The  organization  of  municipal  councils  remains  a  matter  of 
discussion  and  legislation.  New  York,  Detroit,  and  Cleve- 
land, after  a  brief  period  of  bicameral  councils,  have  returned 
to  the  single-chamber  system  ;  but  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and 
Baltimore  retain  the  double  house.  The  importance  of  the 
council  has  steadily  diminished,  not  only  through  the  growth 
of  the  mayor's  power  and  that  of  the  department  heads,  but 
also  in  some  states  through  special  legislation  conferring  local 
franchises,  thus  depriving  the  council  of  the  sole  remaining 
function  of  real  significance.  But  whether  granted  by  coun- 
cil or  legislature,  franchises  have  continued  to  be  granted 
with  little  or  no  comprehension  of  their  value.  The  grants 
have  been  for  long  terms,  sometimes  in  perpetuity,  and  the 
provisions  for  compensation  have  been  both  vague  and  inade- 
quate. The  New  York  charter  of  1897  limits  the  duration 
of  any  franchise  grant  to  twenty-five  years. 

Expansion  of  municipal  functions  and  municipal  expen- 
diture has  involved  a  corresponding  expansion  in  the  admin- 
istrative service,  positions  in  which  have  continued  to  be 


MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE   UNITED   STATES       99 

filled  often  for  party  purposes  rather  than  for  the  most  effi- 
cient service  to  the  city.  So  long  as  one  party  remained  in 
power  for  some  time,  the  administrative  results  were  perhaps 
tolerable,  and  the  principal  evil  of  the  system  was  that  it 
enabled  the  party  machine  in  control  to  intrench  itself,  so  as 
to  make  its  defeat  almo'st  impossible.  But  when,  either 
through  local  contests  or  the  perturbations  of  national  and 
state  politics,  frequent  changes  occurred  in  the  party  control 
of  a  given  city,  the  no  less  frequent  changes  in  the  administra- 
tive subordinates,  substituting  new  men  for  those  of  at  least 
some  experience,  involved  serious  delays  and  mistakes  in 
municipal  work,  and  produced  most  inefficient  results  and 
intolerable  conditions. 

The  law  of  1873  of  New  York  city,  prohibiting  the  removal 
of  certain  subordinate  officials,  except  for  cause  (for  example, 
members  of  the  police  force  and  fire  department),  was  the  first 
important  measure  to  counteract  this  tendency,  and  this  rule 
has  since  been  adopted  in  other  cities.  Soon  after  the  adop- 
tion of  the  competitive  examination  system  for  the  national 
civil  service,  a  similar  system  was  provided  for  Philadelphia 
and  the  cities  of  New  York  State  and  Massachusetts.  In 
New  York  the  civil  service  rules  of  the  various  cities  must  be 
approved  by  the  state  Civil  Service  Commission ;  while  in 
Massachusetts  they  are  drawn  up  by  that  body.  In  1894 
Chicago  adopted  a  like  system,  and  the  New  Orleans  charter 
of  1896  followed  these  examples.  A  few  other  cities  have 
civil  service  examinations,  but  in  most  cases  there  is  much 
need  for  improvement  in  the  method  of  selecting  municipal 
employees. 

Further  constitutional  prohibitions  of  special  legislation 
appeared  during  these  two  decades:  for  the  new  states  of 
North  Dakota  and  South  Dakota,  Wyoming,  and  Washington 
in  1889,  for  Mississippi  in  1890,  and  for  Kentucky,  Minnesota, 
and  Wisconsin  in  1892.  The  Washington  constitution  and 
a  constitutional  amendment  for  Minnesota  in  1896  followed 
Missouri  and  California  in  giving  the  large  cities  the  right 
to  frame  their  own  charters  within  the  limits  set  by  general 
statute.  But  as  was  already  apparent  in  the  state  which  had 


100  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

adopted  such  provisions  earlier,  the  difficulties  of  denning  a 
special  act,  and  of  distinguishing  municipal  affairs  (for  which 
special  legislation  was  forbidden)  and  other  matters  on  which 
there  was  no  restriction,  have  resulted,  in  many  states,  in  the 
practical  nullification  of  the  prohibition. 

The  New  York  constitution  of  1894  contains  no  prohibition 
of  special  legislation,  but  does  contain  a  provision  that  spe- 
cial city  laws  (which  are  defined  as  laws  applying  to  less  than 
all  the  cities  in  any  one  of  the  three  classes  defined  in  the 
constitution)  shall  be  submitted  for  approval  by  the  city  con- 
cerned, and  any  bill  disapproved  by  it  must  be  repassed  by 
the  legislature  and  signed  by  the  governor  to  become  a  law. 
This  provision  at  least  prevents  special  legislation  from  being 
enacted  without  giving  the  local  authorities  an  opportunity 
to  present  their  protest  if  opposed ;  it  may  also  prove  com- 
petent to  prevent  the  passage  of  some  measures  over  the  local 
veto ;  but  it  can  hardly  accomplish  any  result  in  the  case  of 
a  party  measure  supported  by  the  party  in  control  of  the 
legislature  and  opposed  by  the  party  in  control  of  the  city. 

Special  state  commissions  to  administer  certain  functions 
generally  in  the  control  of  the  municipal  authorities  have 
been  established  within  recent  years.  The  Detroit  police 
commission  became  a  municipal  board  in  1891 ;  but  the  Bal- 
timore commission  has  continued  as  a  state  board  since  1860. 
St.  Louis  has  had  a  state  police  board  since  1861,  Boston 
since  1885,  Cincinnati  since  1886,  and  similar  state  commis- 
sions now  exist  elsewhere.  In  San  Francisco,  Denver,  Fall 
River,  Kansas  City  and  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  Birmingham,  Ala., 
Manchester  and  Concord,  N.H.,  and  in  eleven  Indiana  cities, 
such  commissions  may  be  found.  Omaha  had  one  for  ten 
years  (1887-1897)  subject  to  frequent  partisan  legislation 
which  recalls  the  Chicago  police  statutes  of  1860-1865. 
Elsewhere,  the  desire  for  patronage  seems  to  have  played  a 
less  important  part  in  the  movement  than  it  did  three  decades 
ago,  and  the  principal  motive  seems  to  have  been  to  insure 
a  more  vigorous  enforcement  of  legislation  restricting  or  pro- 
hibiting the  liquor  traffic.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  if  this 
result  has  been  accomplished  to  any  extent,  for  in  the  long 


MUNICIPAL   DEVELOPMENT   IN   THE   UNITED   STATES     101 

run  the  state  boards  have  gerief all y  found  it  advisable  to 
recognize  the  local  sentiment  which  affected  the  former  local 
boards,  and  the  principal  outcome  of  the  legislation  has  been 
to  strengthen  the  political  influence  of  the  party  managers 
controlling  the  state  governments.  A  more  effective  course 
for  administrative  improvement  would  seem  to  be  the  appli- 
cation of  the  principle  already  recognized  in  health,  educa- 
tion, and  charity  administration,  the  establishment  of  a  central 
state  authority  with  power  to  investigate  the  work  of  local 
authorities,  and  to  compel  the  latter  to  enforce  the  law  when 
they  have  been  proven  delinquent. 

Some  steps  have  been  taken  to  diminish  the  influence  of 
national  and  state  politics  in  local  elections  by  arranging  the 
municipal  elections  at  different  times  from  the  general  elec- 
tions. The  Massachusetts  cities  have  their  elections  in 
December,  a  month  or  more  after  the  general  elections  ;  New 
York  has  its  municipal  elections  in  the  odd  years,  when  there 
are  no  congressional  or  presidental  elections  ;  but  as  there  are 
annual  elections  for  the  state  legislature,  there  is  not  yet  a 
complete  separation  here.  Some  cities,  including  all  in  Illi- 
nois, hold  municipal  elections  in  the  spring,  as  is  the  general 
rule  for  elections  in  rural  towns. 

The  census  returns  for  1900  show  the  urban  movement  of 
population  still  in  force,  although  at  a  somewhat  diminished 
rate  for  the  last  decade.  Since  1880  the  number  of  cities  in 
the  United  States  with  over  8000  inhabitants  has  nearly 
doubled ;  the  aggregate  population  in  this  class  of  cities  has 
more  than  doubled ;  and  the  percentage  of  total  population 
in  such  cities  has  increased  from  22.6  to  33.1.  There  are 
now  545  places  in  this  class  with  an  aggregate  population  of 
25,000,000.  Cities  of  over  25,000  inhabitants  number  159, 
aggregating  a  population  of  19,757,000.  Thirty-eight  cities 
have  each  over  100,000,  with  a  total  of  14,208,000.  In  each 
of  these  classes  the  aggregate  population  now  exceeds  that 
of  the  corresponding  class  in  the  United  Kingdom;  but  the 
latter  has  still  the  greater  proportion  of  urban  population. 

New  York  city  with  3,437,000  inhabitants  in  its  extended 
boundaries  is  easily  the  second  largest  city  in  the  world. 


102  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

Chicago  (Ir69^000)y  the  second  American  city,  is  surpassed 
in  Europe  only  by  London,  Paris,  and  Berlin  ;  while  Phila- 
delphia (1,293,000)  needs  to  add  only  Vienna  to  the  list. 
Boston,  with  a  municipal  population  of  560,000,  is,  like 
Manchester  in  England,  but  part  of  an  urban  community 
of  over  a  million.  St.  Louis  and  Baltimore  have  each  over 
half  a  million ;  and  other  cities  are  not  far  behind. 

We  have  noted  the  growth  of  urban  population  and  the 
development  of  city  government  in  the  United  States  from 
the  petty  colonial  boroughs  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  to  the  vast  metropolitan  municipalities  of  to-day. 
We  have  seen  the  evolution  from  the  simple  and  unorganized 
council  government  to  the  complicated  administrative  machin- 
ery of  municipal  departments.  In  the  process  the  central 
direction  of  municipal  affairs  has  passed  from  the  council, 
and  in  most  American  cities  authority  is  distributed  and  dis- 
sipated on  no  fixed  principle  among  council,  mayor,  and  state 
legislature  ;  while  the  influence  of  national  and  state  political 
contests  in  municipal  elections,  and  the  operation  of  the  spoils 
system  in  municipal  office-holding,  have  served  to  deteriorate 
still  further  municipal  administration.  In  recent  years,  how- 
ever, we  see  certain  tendencies  toward  a  more  scientific  dis- 
tribution of  authority,  toward  the  separation  of  municipal 
from  national  and  state  elections,  and  toward  a  more  effi- 
cient and  permanent  subordinate  service  ;;  and  although  these' 
tendencies  have  not  as  yet  become  widespread,  yet  it  is 
along  the  lines  already  indicated  that  further  advances  of  a 
permanent  nature  may  be  most  rationally  anticipated. 


CHAPTER  VI 

FRENCH  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY  SINCE  1789 

Authorities.  —  DALLOZ  :  Jurisprudence  Ge'ne'rale.  —  PIZARD  :  La  France  en 
1789.  —  HELIE  :  Les  Constitutions  de  la  France.  —  MONNBT  :  Histoire  de 
1'administration  f ranc.aise.  —  Cobden  Club  Essays  on  Local  Government. 
—  ALBERT  SHAW:  Municipal  Government  in  Continental  Europe,  ch.  2. 

IN  the  reorganization  of  France  by  the  Constituent  Assem- 
bly, in  1789,  the  provinces  and  their  subdivisions  made  way 
for  departments  and  districts,  in  the  formation  of  which  the 
old  lines  of  demarcation  were  purposely  avoided;  but  the 
forty  thousand  communes,  spread  like  a  network  over  the  land, 
remained  unaltered,  as  the  fundamental  unit  of  the  new 
political  structure.  On  the  other  hand,  if  territorial  revision 
was  not  attempted,  there  was,  in  1789,  a  complete  reorganiza- 
tion in  the  method  of  governing  the  communes,  and  since 
that  date  municipal  institutions  in  France  have  been  a  con- 
stant subject  of  legislation.  Each  of  the  many  governments 
which  have  ruled  France  during  the  last  century  have,  in 
turn,  passed  laws  on  communal  government,  stamped  with 
its  characteristic  political  ideas. 

Although  central  control  over  municipal  government  had 
been  thoroughly  established  under  the  old  regime,  there  was 
nothing  like  uniformity  either  in  the  organization  of  the 
communes  or  in  their  financial  obligations  to  the  royal 
treasury.  As  for  the  organization,  a  rough  classification 
may  be  made,  but  always  with  the  reservation  understood 
that  there  were  innumerable  exceptions.  In  general,  then, 
it  may  be  said  that  before  the  Revolution :  — 

1.  In  towns  of  over  4500  population  there  was  a  mayor, 
four  echevins,  six,  eight,  or  ten  councillors,  a  syndic- 
receiver,  a  secretary  or  clerk,  and  a  public  prosecutor  (pro- 
cureur-du-roi). 

103 


104  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

2.  In  towns  with  a  population  between  2000  and  4500, 
a  mayor,  two  echevins  (or  assistants),  four  councillors,  a 
syndic-receiver,  and  a  clerk. 

3.  In  towns  with  less  than  2000  population,  there  was  no 
mayor,  only  two  echevins,  three  councillors,  a  syndic-receiver, 
and  a  clerk.1 

From  the  financial  point  of  view  three  special  classes  of 
communes  may  be  noted,  in  addition  to  those  which  paid  the 
general  fiscal  charges  and  no  more :  — 

1.  Those  towns  subject  to  additional  royal  imposts  over 
and  above  the  general  taxes. 

2.  Those  towns  which,  by  virtue  of  old  privileges,  were 
exempt  from  the  imposts. 

3.  Those  towns  which,  by  a  lump  payment,  had  purchased 
exemption  from  certain  royal  charges. 

On  every  page  of  the  cahiers  of  1789  appeared  the  demand 
for  the  renewal  of  the  old  communal  rights,  especially  for 
that  of  choosing  their  own  officers,2  and  for  abolishing  all 
discriminations.  The  reform  of  local  administration  was, 
in  fact,  the  most  pressing  question  before  the  Constituent 
Assembly;  and  the  subject  was  considered  immediately  after 
the  constitutional  law  organizing  the  central  organs  of  gov- 
ernment,3 although,  with  characteristic  French  method,  the 
Declaration  of  the  Rights  of  Man  had  been  considered  and 
decided  on  before  either. 

The  law  on  municipalities  was  reported  to  the  Assembly 
on  September  29,  and  passed  December  14,  1789.  This  law 
made  three  sweeping  changes  in  the  municipal  administra- 
tion. First,  all  the  existing  municipalities,  whether  under 
the  title  of  "hotels  de  ville,  mairies,  echevinats,  consulats,"4 
or  any  other  name,  with  their  intricate  and  anomalous  powers, 
were  abolished ;  and  in  their  stead  a  strictly  uniform  system 
was  established  for  all  France  —  uniform  both  in  organiza- 
tion and  in  financial  relations  to  the  central  government. 

1  Pizard,  La  France  en  1789,  p.  194. 

2  Dreyfus,  Manuel  Populaire  de  Conseiller  Municipale,  p.  xxi. 
8  He"lie,  Les  Constitutions  de  la  France,  p.  59. 

4  Article  1,  Law  of  1789  (December  14). 


FRENCH  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY  SINCE   1789  105 

Second,  local  self-government  was  inaugurated  by  making 
the  municipal  officers  elective,1  the  suffrage  extending  to  all 
but  the  poorest  class.  Third,  the  system  of  central  control 
was  completely  abolished,  and  each  commune  became  practi- 
cally an  independent  republic.  Each  commune  was  to  be 
provided  with  a  municipal  corps,  composed  of  a  mayor 
(maire),  with  several  other  executive  officers.  There  was 
also  to  be  a  number  of  notables,  double  in  number  to  the 
municipal  corps;  and  the  two  classes  formed  the  council 
general  of  the  commune,  a  deliberating  body,  which  met  to 
decide  important  matters. 

Ordinary  municipal  administration  was  carried  on  by  the 
municipal  corps  alone,  which,  in  turn,  divided  itself  into 
two  bodies.  One-third  of  its  members,  including  the  mayor, 
formed  an  executive  bureau ;  the  remaining  two-thirds  formed 
the  municipal  council,  which  met  alone  to  examine  the 
accounts  of  the  bureau,  and  met  with  the  bureau  to  discuss 
all  other  municipal  business.  Members  of  the  municipal 
corps  and  notables  were  elected  one-half  each  year,  for  a 
term  of  two  years. 

In  order  to  adjust  this  system  to  both  large  and  small 
communes,  the  number  of  officials  was  to  vary  with  the  popu- 
lation. Communes  having  less  than  500  population  had  a 
municipal  corps  of  three  members ;  the  number  increased  with 
the  size  of  the  towns  by  a  sliding  scale,  cities  of  over  100,000 
having  the  maximum  number  of  twenty-one. 

The  municipal  officials,  in  addition  to  their  purely  local 
functions,  such  as  administrating  the  communal  finances, 
directing  and  executing  local  public  works,  also  acted  as 
agents  of  the  central  administration.  In  this  capacity  they 
were  charged  with  the  assessment  of  the  commune's  share  of 
the  direct  taxes,  the  collection  and  transfer  of  the  same  to 
the  departmental  treasury,  and  the  immediate  direction  of 
national  public  works  or  property  in  their  municipality.  In 
all  of  these  affairs  the  communal  officers  were  subject  to  no 
supervision  or  control  by  the  central  government. 

This  scheme  of  municipal  government  established  by  the 

i  Articles  2,  6,  Law  of  1789. 


106  MUNICIPAL   HISTOKY 

law  of  1789  proved  to  have  two  serious  defects.  It  took  for 
granted  a  practical  knowledge  and  habit  of  local  self-govern- 
ment which  the  French  people  entirely  lacked,  and  without 
which  the  system  of  local  independence  proved  entirely  im- 
practicable;  and  in  attempting  to  avoid  the  confusion  and 
lack  of  system  of  the  old  regime,  a  system  was  adopted 
which  proved  too  cumbrous  and  elaborate  for  the  small  rural 
communes.1 

The  constitution  of  the  Directory  (1795)  provided  a  new 
system  of  municipal  government,2  which  recognized  these 
defects.  Under  this  system  communes  of  less  than  .5000 
population  were  no  longer  to  have  a  full  municipal  organiza- 
tion. Each  such  commune  should  have  a  municipal  agent 
and  an  assistant,  who  had  charge  of  all  the  active  administra- 
tion in  the  commune ;  but  the  real  municipal  unit  was  the 
canton,  a  new  territorial  division,  which  included,  on  the 
average,  about  twelve  communes.  The  municipal  adminis- 
tration of  each  canton  was  in  charge  of  a  council  composed 
of  the  agents  of  the  communes  in  the  canton,  together  with 
a  president  elected  by  the  canton.  The  small  communes 
were  thus  absorbed  by  the  canton,  becoming  little  more  than 
administrative  divisions  of  that  circumscription.  This  sys- 
tem has  been  aptly  compared  to  the  township-county  system 
of  rural  local  government  in  such  states  as  New  York  and 
Michigan. 

Communes  with  a  population  between  5000  and  100,000, 
under  the  law  of  1795,  formed  each  a  distinct  canton,  under 
an  administrative  council  of  from  five  to  nine  members.  The 
cities  of  over  100,000  inhabitants  (Paris,  Lyons,  and  Mar- 
seilles) were  partitioned  into  several  municipalities,3  each 
of  which  had  a  council  of  seven  members,  elected  for  two 
years,  as  nearly  one-half  as  possible  retiring  each  year.  In 
each  of  these  cities  there  was  also  a  central  bureau  of  three 
members  appointed,  in  Lyons  and  Marseilles,  by  the  authori- 
ties of  the  department,  subject,  however,  to  confirmation 

1  Shaw,  Municipal  Government  in  Continental  Europe,  pp.  149,  150. 

2  Constitution,  5  Fructidor,  An.  Ill ;  Title,  III. 

*  Paris  was  divided  into  twelve,  Lyons  and  Marseilles  each  into  three. 


FRENCH   MUNICIPAL   HISTORY   SINCE   1789  107 

by  the  Directory,  and  in  Paris  appointed  directly  by  the 
Directory. 

A  serious  limitation  upon  the  independence  of  the  munici- 
palities, and  an  important  step  in  reestablishing  the  system 
of  central  control,  was  also  introduced  at  this  time,  by  giving 
the  departmental  administration  the  right  to  nullify  the  acts 
of  the  cantons  and  municipalities,  and  also,  under  certain 
circumstances,  to  suspend  the  municipal  officers,  subject, 
however,  to  the  approval  of  the  central  government  at  Paris. 

The  recentralization  of  the  administration  by  the  Directory 
was  completed  under  Napoleon,  as  First  Consul,  in  1800. 
The  law  of  28th  Pluviose,  in  the  Year  VIII,1  with  its  sys- 
tem of  prefects  and  sub-prefects  in  all  the  departments,  each 
official  appointed  by  a  superior  and  responsible  only  to  the 
central  authority,  recalls  vividly  the  old  monarchical  system 
and  the  regime  of  the  intendants.  In  the  municipal  organ- 
ization, also,  important  changes  were  made.  The  cantonal 
municipalities  of  the  previous  constitution  were  abolished, 
the  cantons  themselves  disappeared  as  administrative  units 
(though  still  remaining  for  judicial  and  election  purposes), 
by  the  reestablishment  of  the  district,  under  the  new  name 
of  "arrondissement."  In  every  commune  there  was  estab- 
lished, as  in  the  law  of  1789,  a  municipal  council,  with  a 
mayor  and  one  or  more  ad  joints;  but  the  system  of  local 
election  was  abolished,  and  these  all  became  appointive 
officials.  In  towns  of  5000  population  and  over  the  mayor 
and  ad  joints  were  appointed  by  the  First  Consul,  while  the 
councillors  in  these  towns,  and  all  the  officials  of  the  smaller 
communes,  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  departmental  pre- 
fects. Two  or  three  years  later  the  electors  of  the  mu- 
nicipalities were  permitted,  under  some  circumstances,  to 
nominate  the  candidates  for  every  place  which  became 
vacant,  one  of  whom  should  be  appointed;  but  even  this 
concession  was  not  allowed  to  become  operative  as  a  general 
rule.2 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  this 

1  Hdlie,  p.  611. 

*  Shaw,  Municipal  Government  in  Continental  Europe,  p.  157. 


108  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

system  went  into  effect,  France  had  already  been  slightly 
surpassed  in  urban  development  by  the  British  Isles.  With 
almost  double  the  total  population,  France  had  but  1, 840, 000 
inhabitants  in  cities  of  over  20,000  population  each  as  com- 
pared with  over  2,000,000  inhabitants  in  cities  of  that  size  in 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  London  and  Dublin  combined 
had  over  1,000,000,  while  Paris,  Lyons,  and  Marseilles 
aggregated  767,000. 

The  administrative  organization  of  Napoleon  has  remained 
intact  to  the  present  day,  so  far  as  the  territorial  divisions 
and  the  titles  of  the  various  officials  are  concerned.  The 
method  of  appointing  all  the  local  officials  also  remained  in 
force  for  thirty  years.  No  change  was  made  at  the  time  of 
the  Restoration  of  the  monarchy  in  1815 ;  and  not  until  after 
the  Revolution  of  1830  was  a  substantial  concession  to  the 
principle  of  local  self-government  made.  By  the  Act  of 
March,  1831,  the  municipal  councillors  (but  not  the  mayors 
and  adjoints)  were  chosen  by  electoral  assemblies,  to  which 
were  admitted:  1,  a  certain  proportion  of  the  largest  tax- 
payers, the  exact  ratio  varying  with  the  population  of  the 
communes;  2,  the  professional,  official,  and  educated 
classes,  and  all  persons  qualified  to  vote  for  members  of 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies  or  for  the  departmental  councils.1 
Two-thirds  of  the  councillors  must  be  elected  from  the  first 
class  of  electors. 

In  the  smaller  communes,  where  the  number  of  electors  in 
the  first  class  was  equal  to  one-tenth  of  the  population,  the 
requirements  for  voters  were,  in  the  main,  a  modest  property 
qualification ;  but  in  the  large  towns,  where  the  number  of 
electors  included  in  the  first  class  was  (in  towns  of  over 
15,000  population)  but  three  in  each  hundred  of  the  popu- 
lation, the  limitation  on  the  suffrage  was  much  greater.  The 
franchise  for  the  parliamentary  elections  at  this  time  included 
but  200,000  electors  for  the  whole  of  France,  with  a  popula- 
tion of  30, 000, 000, 2  so  the  addition  to  the  electoral  assem- 
blies on  that  score  could  be  but  slight.  The  mayors  and 

1  Law  of  1831,  article  2  ;  Dalloz,  Jurisprudence  Generate. 

2  Annual  Register,  1831,  p.  342. 


FRENCH   MUNICIPAL    HISTORY   SINCE    1789  109 

adjoints  continued  to  be  appointed  by  the  king  or  the  pre- 
fects, but  the  selection  had  to  be  made  from  the  elected 
members  of  the  municipal  councils.1  The  supervision  and 
control  of  the  prefect  over  the  communes  and  their  affairs 
continued  in  undiminished  force  for  several  years.  The 
law  of  July  6,  1837,  on  the  "attributions  "  of  the  municipal 
officers,  however,  gave  the  municipal  councils  (1)  the  right 
of  refusing  to  act  on  matters  concerning  local  affairs;  and 
(2)  the  right  of  initiative ;  but  positive  action  still  required 
the  authorization  of  the  central  government.2 

This  legislation  of  1831  and  1837  was  a  decided  advance 
toward  decentralization  in  municipal  administration.  The 
constitution  and  legislation  of  1848  continued  the  pro- 
cess. The  constitution  laid  down  the  principle  that  all  the 
citizens  should  have  a  vote  in  the  election  of  municipal 
councils ; 3  and  universal  suffrage  was  carried  into  effect  by 
the  law  of  December  10,  1848,  which  also  permitted  the 
councils,  in  towns  of  less  than  6000  inhabitants,  to  choose 
their  own  mayors  and  executive  adjoints.  For  towns  of 
over  6000,  the  provisions  of  the  law  of  1831,  in  respect  to 
the  appointment  of  mayors  and  adjoints,  still  prevailed. 

The  coup  d'etat  of  1852  interrupted  the  process  of  decen- 
tralization in  France.  The  law  of  July  7,  1852,  placed  the 
municipal  functions  once  more  in  the  hands  of  the  central 
government.4  The  municipal  councils  were  allowed  to 
remain  elective;  but  the  executive  officials  were  all  ap- 
pointed, and  the  choice  was  no  longer  limited  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  councils,  as  under  the  law  of  1831.  The  practical 
initiative  was  in  the  hands  of  these  appointed  officials,  and 
the  elective  councils  were  expected  to  approve  the  projects 
and  budgets  presented. 

In  the  law  of  July  24,  1867,5  the  Second  Empire  enlarged 
the  powers  of  the  municipal  councils,  granting  them  the 
right  of  acting  in  certain  important  matters,  which  had 
hitherto  been  under  the  control  of  the  central  administration. 

1  Article  3,  Law  of  1831.  *  Dalloz,  1884,  p.  26. 

2  Ducrocq,  Droit  Administratif,  I,  378-379.  6  Helie,  p.  1299. 
8  Articles  76,  79,  Constitution  of  1848. 


110  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 

But  the  same  law  gave  the  prefect  authority  to  suspend  a 
municipal  council  and  replace  it  by  an  appointed  commis- 
sion, which  could  remain  in  power  for  three  years. 

The  growth  of  cities  in  France  during  the  first  half  of 
the  century  had  been  at  a  much  slower  rate  than  in  Great 
Britain,  or  even  in  Germany;  yet  urban  population  had 
doubled,  while  the  total  population  had  increased  but  one- 
third.  In  1851  there  were  5  cities  with  over  100,000,  and 
63  cities  with  over  20,000,  the  population  of  the  latter  class 
aggregating  3,810,000. 

Up  to  this  time  no  important  developments  had  appeared 
in  the  field  of  municipal  activities ;  but  under  the  centralized 
system  of  the  Second  Empire  the  physical  betterment  of  the 
larger  cities  was  begun  and  prosecuted  with  vigor.  In  Paris, 
under  Baron  Haussman,  prefect  of  the  Seine,  the  work  was 
executed  regardless  of  expense  and  with  imperial  scope  and 
magnificence.  In  the  central  congested  districts  thousands 
of  houses  were  cleared  away  for  a  radical  reconstruction  of 
streets  and  squares ;  in  the  outlying  districts,  broad  boule- 
vards, open  squares,  parks,  and  pleasure  grounds  were  laid 
out;  and  for  the  whole  city  a  comprehensive  sewer  system 
and  new  water  supply  were  furnished.  In  the  important 
provincial  cities  other  energetic  agents  of  Napoleon  III 
carried  out  smaller  schemes,  and  the  period  from  1852  to 
1870  is  one  of  marked  material  progress  in  the  chief  com- 
munities of  France. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  National  Assembly  under  the 
Third  Republic  was  to  revive  the  law  of  1848,  giving  com- 
munes the  right  of  choosing  their  own  municipal  executive 
officers.  The  bill  as  introduced  made  the  same  reservation 
as  did  the  law  of  1848,  — that  in  towns  of  over  6000  these 
officials  should  continue  to  be  appointed;  in  the  Assembly 
an  amendment  was  carried  (by  a  vote  of  285  to  275),  abolish- 
ing this  distinction.  President  Thiers  feared  to  try  this 
experiment ;  and  it  must  be  remembered  that,  except  for  the 
ten  years  between  1790  and  1800,  the  executive  officials  of 
all  the  large  towns  of  France  had  been  directly  controlled 
by  the  central  authorities.  Thiers  protested  against  what 


FRENCH  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY   SINCE   1789  111 

seemed  to  him  a  rash  step,  threatening  to  resign  if  the 
amendment  was  insisted  on;  and  his  efforts  were  finally 
successful  in  procuring  a  provision  that  in  towns  of  20,000 
population  and  over,  and  in  the  chief  town  in  each  depart- 
ment and  arrondissement,  the  mayor  and  adjoints  should 
continue  to  be  appointed.1 

Even  with  the  amendment,  the  new  law  allowed  municipal 
autonomy  to  a  larger  degree  than  the  law  of  1848 ;  but  in 
1874,  after  MacMahon  had  been  made  president,  a  reactionary 
law  was  passed,2  restoring  the  legislation  of  the  Second 
Empire.  All  mayors  and  adjoints  were  made  appointive  by 
the  ministers  or  prefects,  and,  under  certain  conditions,  they 
could  be  chosen  from  outside  the  members  of  the  municipal 
councils.  This  law  had  been  passed  for  the  benefit  of.  the 
monarchical  parties  in  France,  and  the  37,000  places  put  at 
the  disposal  of  the  government  were  rapidly  filled  by  Legiti- 
mists, Orleanists,  and  even  Imperialists.  In  spite  of  these 
efforts  the  election  of  February,  1876,  put  the  Republicans 
in  control  of  the  chambers,  and  their  first  care  was  to  repeal 
the  law  of  1874  on  municipal  government.  By  the  law  of 
August  12 3  the  law  of  1871  was  practically  restored,  the 
only  change  was  that  the  provision  for  appointing  the  munic- 
ipal executive  officers  in  towns  of  over  20,000  population 
was  replaced  by  a  provision  making  them  appointive  in  the 
chief  town  in  each  canton.  Moreover,  even  in  the  towns 
where  the  mayor  continued  to  be  appointive  nominally,  the 
substance  of  power  was  now  in  the  hands  of  the  locally 
elected  councils.  Extreme  centralization  was  found  in 
practice  to  be  impossible  in  a  republic,  the  municipal  coun- 
cils became  more  and  more  assertive,  while  the  prefects  and 
central  government  became  correspondingly  more  compliant.4 
At  length,  in  1882,5  the  provision  for  the  appointment  of 
mayors  and  adjoints  in  the  chief  town  in  each  department, 

1  Monnet,  Histoire  de  V  Administration,  ch.  10  ;  Law  of  April  10,  1871. 

2  Law  of  January  20,  1874. 

8  Dalloz,  Jurisprudence  Generate,  1871. 
*  Shaw,  Continental  Europe,  p.  161. 
6  Law  of  March  28,  1882. 


112  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

arrondissement,  and  canton  was  repealed,  and  these  officers 
became  elective  in  every  commune  in  France.  Paris,  how- 
ever, was  excepted  from  this  rule,  and  has  been  the  subject 
of  special  legislation,  placing  its  municipal  affairs  very 
largely  under  the  direct  control  of  the  central  government. 
The  two  principal  officials  are  the  Prefect  of  the  Seine  and 
the  Prefect  of  Police,  both  appointed  by  the  minister  of  the 
interior.  There  are  also  an  elected  municipal  council  and 
twenty  maires,  one  for  each  arrondissement  into  which  the 
city  is  divided. 

The  need  of  codifying  existing  enactments  on  the  sub- 
ject of  municipal  government  had  been  recognized  since 
the  formation  of  the  Third  Republic.  It  was  also  felt  that 
further  decentralization  in  the  management  of  local  affairs 
was  advisable ;  that  the  decisions  of  the  municipal  councils 
should  be  released  from  the  requirement  of  central  admin- 
istrative approval.1  Accordingly,  in  1884,  the  loi  sur 
T organisation  municipale  was  enacted;2  this  made  some  im- 
portant changes  in  the  law  on  the  subject,  and  consolidated 
all  the  provisions  for  the  organization  and  government  of 
communes  into  a  systematic  code  —  the  basis  of  the  present 
municipal  system  in  France. 

An  additional  piece  of  legislation  of  considerable  impor- 
tance is  the  law  of  March  22,  1890, 3  which  provides  for  the 
association  of  adjacent  communes  for  the  purpose  of  carry- 
ing on  works  of  intercommunal  utility.  For  the  manage- 
ment of  such  works  a  committee  of  two  delegates  from  the 
municipal  council  of  each  commune  in  the  association  or 
syndicate  is  to  be  elected,  this  committee  to  have  full  con- 
trol. This  legislation  provides  a  method  for  securing  ade- 
quate local  administration  in  the  small  rural  communes 
in  such  matters  as  poor  relief,  hospitals,  secondary  and  tech- 
nical schools,  without  resorting  to  the  cumbrous  method  of 
the  cantonal  municipalities  of  1795-1800. 

During  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  popula- 
tion of  France  has  remained  almost  stationary,  and  very 

1  Goodnow,  Administrative  Law,  I,  287-  »  Dalloz,  1890,  IV. 

a  Law  of  April  5,  1884  ;  Dalloz,  1884,  IV,  25. 


FRENCH  MUNICIPAL  HISTORY  SINCE   1789  113 

largely  on  this  account  the  increase  in  urban  population  has 
been  less  marked  than  in  other  countries.  Nevertheless, 
since  1850,  there  has  been  a  most  decided  growth  in  the  city 
population,  all  the  more  noticeable  in  view  of  the  stationary 
state  of  population  in  the  country  as  a  whole.  From  1851  to 
1896  the  population  of  the  present  territory  of  France  in- 
creased from  34,901,938  to  38,517,975.  In  the  same  period 
the  aggregate  population  of  cities  with  over  20,000  inhab- 
itants showed  an  increase  from  3,811,500  to  over  8,000,000. 
Cities  of  over  100,000  population  increased  in  number  from 
5  to  12,  and  the  aggregate  population  of  such  cities  from 
1,656,900  to  4,793,491.  Paris,  with  2,511,000  inhabitants, 
ranks  next  to  London  and  New  York  among  the  largest 
cities  in  civilized  countries.  The  next  largest  cities  in 
France,  Lyons  and  Marseilles,  are  each  under  half  a  million 
population;  and  two  other  cities,  Bordeaux  and  Lille,  have 
each  over  200,000. 

"  The  advocate  of  direct  municipal  ownership  and  operation, 
of  such  supply  services  as  lighting  or  transit,  will  not  find 
it  advantageous  to  visit  the  French  towns.  He  will  find  in 
them  very  few  important  experiments  in  this  direction,  and 
will  conclude  that  Great  Britain  and  Germany  are  the  fields 
best  worthy  his  attention.  .  .  .  The  chief  French  provincial 
towns,  if  one  may  generalize  sweepingly,  have,  indeed,  much 
more  to  show  the  visitor  who  is  attracted  by  imposing  boule- 
vards, by  elegance  in  public  architecture,  by  well-kept  parks 
and  squares,  by  interesting  and  artistic  monuments,  and  by 
the  other  externals  of  municipal  aggrandizement,  than  they 
can  reveal  to  the  inquirer  who  cares  most  for  the  achieve- 
ments of  sanitary  science  and  for  kindred  social  services.  In 
this  regard  they  have  much  to  learn  from  the  large  British 
towns,  which,  while  less  attractive  in  many  of  their  external 
appointments,  have,  as  a  rule,  accomplished  far  better  results 
in  the  provision  of  pure  water  and  wholesome  drainage,  in 
housing  reforms,  and  in  aggressive  sanitary  and  social 
administration  along  various  lines."1 

1  Shaw,  Municipal  Government  in  Continental  Europe,  pp.  187-191. 


CHAPTER   VII 

GERMAN  CITIES  DURING  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

Authorities. — BORNHAK:  Preussisches  Verwaltungsrecht. — LEIDIG  :  Preuss- 
isches  Stadtrecht.  —  STENGEL  :  Organisation  der  Preussischen  Verwal- 
tung. — BLOCK:  Dictionnaire  de  1' Administration  Fran§aise. 

NEXT  to  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  the  most 
important  country  in  urban  development  is  Germany.  But 
while  the  urban  movement  in  that  country  has  become  marked 
only  since  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  basis  of 
the  municipal  organization  was  laid  almost  at  the  beginning 
of  the  century,  in  the  Prussian  Municipal  Corporations  Act 
of  1808,  the  work  of  the  famous  Baron  von  Stein. 

During  the  eighteenth  century  the  subjection  of  German 
cities  to  the  various  state  governments  had  been  steadily 
emphasized,  and  at  the  same  time  the  character  of  the  munic- 
ipal government  had  greatly  deteriorated.  The  condition 
of  the  Prussian  cities  before  Stein's  reform  applies,  also,  to 
the  cities  in  other  German  states.  The  magistrates  in  some 
places  were  selected  by  cooptation,  but  for  the  most  part  they 
were  appointed  directly  by  the  government,  and  the  citizens 
had  little  or  no  influence  in  the  administration.  The  city 
offices  were  often  filled  by  invalided  soldiers,  appointed 
without  regard  for  their  competence,  apparently  as  a  system 
of  military  pensions.  Moreover,  the  local  officials  were 
under  a  strict  tutelage,  exercised  by  state  officials  known  as 
tax  commissioners,  each  of  whom  had  charge  of  a  consider- 
able district,  while  the  taxes  collected  for  local  purposes 
were  insignificant  in  comparison  with  those  paid  to  the  state. 

The  first  measures  of  reorganization  were  made  in  the 
western  parts  of  Germany,  under  the  influence  of  the  French 
Empire;  and  the  French  centralized  system,  with  appointed 
executive  officials  under  a  rigid  central  control  and  elected 

114 


GERMAN  CITIES   DURING  THE   NINETEENTH  CENTURY    115 

councils  having  no  authority,  was  introduced.  The  system 
established  in  Prussia  in  1808  occupied  a  middle  ground 
between  the  centralized  system  and  the  system  of  complete 
local  independence,  which  had  been  tried  in  France,  in  1790, 
and  failed.  The  central  point  in  Stein's  organization  was 
the  council,  elected  by  the  burghers,  who  included  all 
those  who  owned  land  or  carried  on  a  trade  in  the  city. 
The  members  of  the  council  were  chosen  for  three  years,  one- 
third  retiring  each  year.  The  particular  functions  of  the 
council  were  to  control  local  taxation  and  to  select  the  execu- 
tive officials.  The  latter  consisted  of  a  paid  burgomaster  and 
both  paid  and  unpaid  magistrates,  some  chosen  on  account 
of  special  knowledge,  serving  for  twelve  years,  the  others 
for  six  years,  one-half  retiring  every  three  years.  The  per- 
sons elected  by  the  council  were  subject  to  confirmation  by 
the  agent  of  the  government  in  the  province;  in  cities  of 
over  10,000  the  burgomaster  was.  appointed  by  the  king  from 
a  list  of  three  names  presented  by  the  council.  Office-holding 
was  made  compulsory,  and  even  the  electors  were  required 
to  vote  on  pain  of  losing  their  rights.  These  municipal 
officials  could  act  on  their  own  motion  on  all  matters  relating 
to  municipal  property,  or  the  economic  welfare  of  the  town, 
subject  to  a  limited  state  oversight,  exercised  by  examining 
accounts,  hearing  complaints,  ratifying  new  ordinances,  and 
sanctioning  appointments.  The  former  judicial  system  in 
the  towns  was,  however,  replaced  by  a  system  of  state 
officials ;  the  police  might  be  under  state  officials,  or  under 
the  local  officials,  subject  to  active  state  control. 

This  Act  of  1808  applied  only  to  the  provinces  then  included 
in  Prussia:  East  Prussia,  West  Prussia,  Brandenburg,  Pom- 
erania,  and  Silesia;  and  in  1815  it  was  not  extended  to 
the  districts  regained  or  newly  added  to  Prussia.  Here  the 
municipal  government  remained  for  a  time  under  the  new 
French  or  earlier  German  methods. 

In  1831  a  revised  Municipal  Corporations  Act  was  enacted 
for  the  cities  in  the  eastern  provinces  not  included  under 
the  Act  of  1808,  and  later  extended  to  Westphalia  (1835), 
Posen  (1841),  to  single  Rhine  cities,  and,  in  1845,  to  the 


116  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

Rhine  province.  Cities  organized  under  the  Act  of  1808 
were  allowed  to  substitute  the  Act  of  1831,  but  few  acted  on 
this  permission.  The  Act  of  1831  was  drawn  on  the  same 
general  lines  as  that  of  1808,  but  with  some  important 
modifications  limiting  the  scope  of  municipal  autonomy. 

All  persons  owning  real  property  of  a  certain  value  (300- 
1200  thalers)  must  become  burghers ;  others,  with  an  income 
of  200  thalers  and  two  years'  residence,  were  permitted  to 
become  burghers.  This  was  an  extension  of  the  franchise 
to  owners  of  personal  property.  The  number  of  members  in 
councils  varied  from  nine  to  sixty,  a  reduction  from  the 
numbers  in  the  Act  of  1808;  elections  might  be  either  by 
gilds  or  wards ;  in  elections  by  wards  a  minimum  property 
qualification  in  land  or  income  was  required  for  members  of 
the  council.  Burgomasters  might  be  chosen  for  life  if  the 
council,  magistrates,  and  government  consented.  Provision 
was  made  for  differences  between  the  council  and  magistrates, 
and  if  no  agreement  was  possible,  the  government  was  to 
make  the  decision.  The  system  of  oversight  by  the  central 
government  was  somewhat  stronger  than  under  the  Act  of 
1808. 

After  the  Prussian  constitution  of  1848  was  put  into  force, 
an  attempt  was  made  in  an  act  of  1850  to  establish  a  uniform 
municipal  system  for  both  cities  and  rural  villages,  such 
as  existed  in  France.  This  law  was  based  on  the  existing 
Prussian  city  government,  and  resembled  most  nearly  the 
organization  in  the  Rhenish  districts  which  had  been  sub- 
jected to  French  influence.  But  the  differences  between  city 
and  country  imposed  obstacles  to  the  working  of  a  uniform 
system,  the  law  of  1850  was  suspended,  and  Prussia  returned 
to  the  method  of  statutes  dealing  only  with  the  government 
of  cities.  New  Municipal  Corporations  Acts  were  enacted 
in  1853  for  the  six  eastern  provinces,  and  in  1856  for  West- 
phalia and  the  Rhine  province.  These  acts  followed  the 
main  features  of  the  Act  of  1808  and  1831.  The  principal  new 
features  were  the  extension  of  the  municipal  franchise  and 
the  introduction  of  the  three-class  system  of  voting.  Accord- 
ing to  this  system,  the  electors  were  grouped  into  three 


GERMAN  CITIES  DURING  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY    117 

classes:  those  taxpayers  assessed  for  the  highest  amounts, 
who  paid  together  one-third  of  the  direct  urban  taxes,  formed 
the  first  class ;  a  larger  body  of  middle-class  taxpayers,  con- 
tributing together  another  third  of  the  municipal  taxes, 
formed  the  second  class;  the  small  taxpayers,  paying  the 
last  third,  formed  the  third  class.  Each  class  elected  one- 
third  of  the  members  of  the  council  by  an  open  vote.  The 
only  important  variation  in  municipal  organization  under  the 
various  acts  was  that  in  the  Rhine  province  the  executive 
magistrates  were  not  elected  by  the  council  as  a  separate 
authority,  but  were  made  appointive  and  subordinate  to  the 
burgomasters,  in  the  same  relation  as  the  adjoints  bore  to 
the  maires  in  French  communes. 

In  the  kingdom  of  Hanover  a  general  Municipal  Corpora- 
tions Act  was  put  into  force  in  1851,  and  a  revised  statute  in 
1858.  Both  of  these  laws  followed  very  closely  the  existing 
laws  in  Prussia.  There  was,  therefore,  no  necessity  for  any 
important  change  when  Hanover  was  annexed  to  Prussia  in 
1866.  For  the  other  additions  to  Prussia  at  this  period  the 
municipal  arrangements  of  the  Act  of  1853  were,  with  slight 
variations,  extended  to  Frankfort-on-the-Main  in  1867,  to 
Schles wig-Hols tein  in  1869,  and  to  the  former  Duchy  of 
Lauenberg  in  1870. 

The  law  on  the  jurisdiction  of  the  administrative  courts, 
enacted  in  1883,  formed  a  supplement  to  the  general  munic- 
ipal law,  regulating  both  the  competence  of  the  municipal 
officials  and  the  state  organs  of  supervision.  This  state 
supervision  is  exercised  especially  with  reference  to  the 
amount  of  local  taxes  and  the  making  of  loans,  and  in  the 
administration  of  the  police,  where  that  is  in  the  hands  of 
the  municipal  authorities. 

Cities  in  Bavaria  are  now  organized  under  a  law  of  1869, 
and  the  cities  in  Saxony  under  a  law  of  1873.  These 
laws,  and  those  in  other  German  states,  in  their  main 
features  closely  resemble  the  Prussian  legislation,  with 
the  exception  that  the  three-class  system  of  voting  is  not 
employed. 

This  legislation,  providing  the  framework  of  municipal 


118  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

government,  was  enacted  before  the  day  of  large  cities  in 
Germany,  and  it  is  a  significant  contrast  with  conditions  in 
the  United  States  that  the  system  adopted  for  small  cities  has 
proven  adequate  to  the  large  urban  communities  which  have 
developed,  especially  during  the  last  three  decades. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  century  Berlin  and  Hamburg, 
alone  of  the  cities  in  the  present  German  Empire,  had  over 
100,000.  Even  cities  of  over  20,000  population  were  less 
frequent  than  in  France  and  much  less  so  than  in  the  British 
Isles;  the  population  of  those  in  Prussia,  Saxony,  and 
Bavaria  aggregated  less  than  900,000  in  a  total  population 
of  15,000,000.  By  the  middle  of  the  century  there  were  four 
cities  with  over  100,000  population, — Berlin,  Hamburg, 
Breslau,  and  Munich,  —  and  the  population  of  cities  of  over 
20,000  in  the  three  principal  kingdoms  aggregated  2,784,000. 
At  this  time  urban  development  in  Germany  was  no  further 
advanced  than  in  the  United  States,  and  was  still  behind  that 
in  France. 

During  the  next  two  decades  a  considerable  further  devel- 
opment in  urban  population  appeared.  Dresden,  Cologne, 
Konigsberg,  Leipzig,  and  Magdeburg  came  into  the  class  of 
cities  with  over  100,000;  Berlin  by  1871  had  825,000  popu- 
lation; and  by  that  year  there  were  in  all  28  cities  with 
over  50,000  inhabitants.  But  the  most  striking  develop- 
ment has  been  since  1871,  in  connection  with  marvellous 
advance  in  commercial  and  industrial  life  which  has  followed 
the  creation  of  the  German  Empire.  In  1900  there  were 
33  cities  with  over  100,000  population,  aggregating  9,100,000 
inhabitants,  in  a  total  population  of  56,345,000.  The  cities 
of  over  20,000  in  Prussia  have  almost  9,000,000,  in  a 
total  population  of  34,468,000.  Berlin  has  1,888,000, 
Hamburg  705,000,  Munich  500,000,  Leipzig  455,000,  and 
Dresden  422, 000. 1  During  these  three  decades  the  city 
population  of  Germany  has  far  outstripped  that  of  France ; 
and  the  ratio  of  growth,  though  not  the  absolute  increase, 
has  been  higher  than  that  in  the  British  Isles.  Both  in 
ratio  and  absolute  numbers,  however,  Germany  has  been 

lZeitschrift  des  Koniglich.  Preuss.  Stat,  Bureaus,  1901,  p.  39. 


GERMAN  CITIES  DURING  THE   NINETEENTH  CENTURY     119 

exceeded  by  the  United  States,1  which  ranks  second  to  the 
United  Kingdom  in  urban  development. 

This  recent  municipal  movement  in  Germany  is  charac- 
terized by  three  distinguishing  features,  which  need  now  be 
but  briefly  noted.  The  government  of  the  cities  is  not  on  a 
democratic  basis,  as  in  the  other  important  urban  countries, 
but  continues  to  be  controlled  by  the  wealthier  classes  in 
each  community.  The  active  management  of  municipal 
affairs  is  very  largely  in  the  hands  of  a  special  class  of 
technically  trained  officials,  who  apply  scientific  adminis- 
trative methods  to  a  degree  unknown  in  other  countries. 
Yet  it  is  these  cities  which  have  advanced  farthest  in  the 
direction  of  what  is  known  as  "municipal  socialism";  not, 
however,  as  the  result  of  any  political  propaganda,  but  as  a 
gradual  development  from  their  own  experience. 

"In  Germany  the  community  organized  centrally  and 
officially  is  a  far  more  positive  factor  in  the  life  of  the 
family  or  the  individual  than  in  America.  The  German 
municipal  government  is  not  a  thing  apart,  but  is  vitally 
identified  with  every  concern  of  the  municipality,  and  the 
municipality  is  the  aggregation  of  human  beings  and  human 
interests  included  within  the  territorial  boundaries  that  fix 
the  community's  area  and  jurisdiction.  There  are  in  the 
German  conception  of  city  government  no  limits  whatever 
to  the  municipal  functions.  .  .  .  The  German  city  holds 
itself  responsible  for  the  education  of  all,  for  the  provision 
of  amusement  and  the  means  of  recreation,  for  the  adaptation 
of  the  training  of  the  young  to  the  necessities  of  gaining  a 
livelihood;  for  the  health  of  families;  for  the  moral  interests 

1  Mr.  Albert  Shaw,  Continental  Europe,  ch.  5,  argues  that  the  growth 
of  cities  in  Germany  has  been  no  less,  and  perhaps  more  marked,  than  in  the 
United  States  ;  but  the  evidence  is  not  entirely  convincing.  In  comparing 
particular  cities,  he  neglects  to  include  populations  which  form  parts  of  the 
urban  communities,  although  not  within  the  legal  boundaries,  of  American 
cities,  such  as  New  York,  Boston,  and  Pittsburg.  If  the  figures  for  the  urban 
communities  are  compared,  it  will  be  seen  that,  even  in  recent  years,  the 
American  cities  have  grown  more  rapidly  than  those  of  Germany ;  while 
the  aggregate  city  population  in  the  two  countries  shows  still  more  clearly 
the  same  result. 


120  MUNICIPAL   HISTORY 

of  all;  for  the  civilizing  of  the  people;  for  the  promotion  of 
individual  thrift;  for  protection  from  various  misfortunes; 
for  the  development  of  advantages  and  opportunities  in 
order  to  promote  the  industrial  and  commercial  well-being, 
and  incidentally  for  the  supply  of  common  services  and  the 
introduction  of  conveniences."1 

Two  further  characteristics  of  the  entire  Prussian  system 
of  local  administration  which  necessarily  attach  to  the  munici- 
pal government  may  also  be  mentioned.  In  the  first  place, 
there  is  a  large  amount  of  obligatory  and  unpaid  service 
required  from  the  well-to-do  citizens,  a  feature  consciously 
adopted  as  a  counterbalance  to  the  bureaucratic  tendencies 
of  the  permanent  professional  officials.  In  the  second  place, 
the  local  authorities  are  not  dependent  on  special  legislative 
grants  of  enumerated  powers,  but,  as  in  France,  have  a  gen- 
eral grant  of  power;  while  the  necessary  control  of  the  cen- 
tral government  is  exercised,  not  by  a  legislative  body  ruled 
by  partisan  political  motives,  but  by  administrative  and 
judicial  officers  whose  actions  are  determined  by  fixed  rules 
and  the  interests  of  the  community.2 

1  Shaw,  Continental  Europe,  pp.  323,  329. 

8  F.  J.  Goodnow,  Comparative  Administrative  Law,  I,  336. 


STATISTICS  OF  URBAN  POPULATION 


121 


STATISTICS  OF  URBAN  POPULATION 

PRINCIPAL  COUNTRIES,  1800,  1860,  1900 

18001 


Country 

Total  Population 

Cities  of  over 
100,000 

Cities  of  over 
20,000 

United  States    

5,308,482 

201,416 

Canada    

Great  Britain  and  Ireland  .     .     . 
France 

15,717,287 
26  930  756 

1,032,745 
767,386 

2,083,868 
1,840,386 

Prussia,  Saxony,  and  Bavaria  .     . 
Holland  and  Belgium  "  .     .    .     . 
Spain       

15,204,799 
4,880,463 
10,836,000 

186,380 
217,622 
167,607 

845,500 
721,342 
1,112,877 

Portugal  

3,661,809 

350,000 

380000 

Italy    . 

18  124  000 

800  000 

1  000  000 

12,600,000 

232,000 

449,000 

Hungary  
Greece     

9,859,000 
1,002,112 

228,000 
31,125 

Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark  . 
Eussia     

4,214,810 
46,000,000 

100,975 
595,000 

173,627 
1,088,000 

Total    . 

173.340.000 

4.448.000 

10.156.000 

18501 


Country 

Total  Population 

Cities  of  over 
100,000 

Cities  of  over 
20,000 

United  States    

23,191,876 

1,393,338 

2,271,680 

Canada    .         .                             . 

2  375  597 

176  287 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland  .     .    . 
France     

27,390,635 
34,901  938 

4,791,886 
1,666,900 

7,640,912 
3,811,600 

Prussia,  Saxony,  and  Bavaria  .     . 
Holland  and  Belgium     .... 

23,389,303 
7,556,879 
15  464  530 

617,000 
518,587 
683  921 

2,784,000 
1,382,703 
1  489  688 

Portugal  .              

3  908  861 

275  286 

415  286 

Italy    . 

23  617  000 

1  425  000 

2  500  000 

Austria    

17,073,231 

484  942 

720  548 

Hungary  . 

11,554,377 

156  506 

526  502 

Greece     

Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark  . 
Russia     

6,422,588 
71,200,000 

123,123 
1,123,698 

297,795 
2,530,954 

Total    

268,046  709 

13  249  987 

25,556  875 

1  Compiled  from  A.  F.  Weber,  The  Growth  of  Cities  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century.  The  figures  given  are  for  the  census  years  nearest  the  dates  at  the 
head  of  the  tables. 


122 


MUNICIPAL  HISTORY 


STATISTICS  OF  URBAN  POPULATION 

19001 


Country 

Total  Population 

Cities  of  over 
100,000 

Cities  of  over 
20,000 

United  States      

76,303,387 

14,208,347 

20  795  716 

Canada  (1891)    

4,833,259 

397,870 

689  448 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland     .     . 
France  (1896)     

41,454,219 
38,269,011 

13,193,487 
4,876,869 

21,000,000  2 
8  668  036 

Germany    

56,345,014 

9,108.814 

14  300  000  2 

Holland  and  Belgium  .... 
Spain  (1897)  . 

11,848,456 
18,089,500 

2,337,714 
1,606,699 

3,587,525 
3  600  000  2 

Portugal  (1890)  

5,082,208 

447,417 

470  606 

Italy  (1898)    

31,667,946 

3,318,939 

5  000  000  2 

Austria                     .     .     .     •     . 

26,107,304 

2,452,351 

4  044  026 

Hungary  (1890)  

17,349,398 

605,763 

1  709  938 

Greece  (1896) 

2,433,806 

111,486 

212  762 

Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark 
Russia  (1897)      

8,958,278 
128,932,173 

878,069 
5,723,918 

1,233,326 
10,792,247 

Total  1900                         .    . 

469,793,959 

58  567  788 

96  103  630 

Total,  1850      

268,046,709 

13,249,987 

26,556,875 

Total  1800 

173  340  000 

4  448  000 

10  166  000 

Australasia  (1899)             .     .     . 

4,460,254 

1,185,996 

1  580  367 

Mexico  (1895)                    .     .     . 

12,491,573 

329,774 

1  150  480 

Brazil  (1890)  

14,333,915 

808,619 

1,258,000 

Argentine  (1895) 

3  952  990 

677,786 

289  043 

Chile  (1895)  

2,712,145 

463,660 

630,647 

Other  South  America  .... 
Japan  (1898)           

14,792,000 
43,760,754 

476,000 
3,497,910 

1,165,000 
5,500,000  2 

British  India  (1891)     .... 

287,223,431 

6,183,123 

14,234,592 

1  United  States  Census  Bulletins,  Twelfth  Census ;  Journal  of  the  Royal 
Statistical  Society,  June,  1901  ;  Annuaire  Statistique  de  la  France,  1899 ; 
Zeitschrift  des  Konig.  Preuss.  Stat.  Bureaus,  1901,  pp.  39  ff.  ;  Annuario  Sta- 
tistico  Italiano,  1900 ;  Statistische  Monatschrift,  VI,  41 ;  Statesman's  Tear- 
book,  1901. 

2  Partly  estimated. 


PART   II 

MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 


PART   II  — MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

CHAPTER  VIII 
PUBLIC  HEALTH  AND  SAFETY 

POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 

Authorities.  — LEROY-BEAULIEU  :  L'administration  locale,  etc.,  Pt.  II,  ch.  1. 

—  ARMINJON  :    L'administration  locale  dans  1' Angleterre,  ch.  8.  —  F. 
BRAYER:    Police  administrative  et  judiciaire  (1894). — L.  PELATANT: 
De  1* organisation  de  la  police  (1899).  —  H.  DELATTRE  :  La  Gendarmerie 
Francaise.  —  G.  MACE:   La  service  de  la  surete".  —  Louis  FIAUX  :  La 
Police  des  MoBurs  (1888).— G.  ZIMMERMAN:  Der  modernen  Polizei.— 
H.  A.  MASCHER  :  Die  Polizeiverwaltung  des  Preussischen  Staats.  —  O. 
HELD  :  Die  Preussischen  Polizerverwaltung.  — WALD  ERDMANN:  Praxis 
der  Polizerwaltung    (1891). — R.    GNEIST  :    Englische   Verfassungsge- 
schichte,   II,   804.  —  J.    STEPHEN  :    History  of   the  Criminal  Law.  — 
ARTHUR  GRIFFITHS  :   Mysteries  of  Police  and  Crime  (1899),  2  vols. 

—  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  XIX,  332.  — BLISS  :  Encyclopedia  of  Social 
Reform.  —  C.   H.   PARKHURST  :    Our  Fight  with  Tammany,  ch.  20.  — 
Report  of  New  York  Senate  (Lexow)  Committee,  1896.  —  A.  E.  Cos- 
TELLO  :   The  New  York  Police.  —  DE  FRANCIAS  FOLSOM  :    Our  Police 
(Baltimore).  —  H.  O.    SPROQLE  :    The  Philadelphia   Police.  —  E.    H. 
SAVAGE  :  The  Boston  Watch  and  Police.  —  M.  THIRIAT  :  L' office  de  la 
police  judiciaire.  —  Blackwood's  Magazine,   29:82;  34:642;  36:638; 
38  : 319  ;    140 :  594.  —  Edinburgh   Review,    48  : 411 ;   66 : 368  ;   96  : 1.  — 
Journal  of  the  Royal   Statistical    Society,    13  : 221.  —  Times,   20  : 12. 

—  Green  Bag,   7  : 406.  —  Cornhill  Magazine,  44  : 421.  —  Eclectic  Mu- 
seum,  1  : 552.  —  Chambers' s  Journal,  37  :  84.  —  Foreign  Review,  6 : 206. 

—  Quarterly  Review,   37  : 489.  —  Contemporary  Review,  55  : 445,  622  ; 
53  :  214.  —  Saturday  Review,  65  :  534,  etc.  ;  83  : 627.  —  Spectator,  60 : 
1216;  78:826. — Nuova  Antologia,  May  16,  1897. — Every  Saturday, 
9 :  2,  475.  —  Canadian  Magazine,  14  : 362.  —  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes, 
119  : 156.  —Nation,  59 : 140.  —  Chautauquan,  7  : 197  ;  16  :  689.  —  Atlan- 
tic Monthly,  80  :  289-300.  —Harper's  Monthly,  74  : 495-518.  —  Forum, 
27  : 278-284.  —  Scribner's   Magazine,    21 : 221.  —  Scribner's    Monthly, 
16 : 342. 

125 


126  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 


PROTECTION  FROM  FIRE 

Municipal  Affairs,  II,  629-636.  —  Popular  Science  Monthly,  47  : 477,  603. 

—  Engineering  Magazine,  14  :  789,  806 ;  7  : 603.  —Public  Opinion,  28  : 342. 

—  Forum,  29 :  566-571. 

HEALTH  DEPARTMENT 

f   ' 

LEROT-BEAULIEU  :  L'administration  locale,  Pt.  II,  ch.  5. — JOHN  SIMON: 
English  Sanitary  Institutions.  —  A.  H.  BUCK  :  Reference  Handbook  of  Medical 
Sciences.  Articles :  Food,  Adulteration,  Health  Legislation,  Sanitary  In- 
spection. —  Les  Institutions  Sanitaires  en  Italie  (Milan,  1885).  — ROCHAUD  : 
Encyclopedic  d' Hygiene.  — American  Public  Health  Association  Reports.  — 
New  York  City,  Board  of  Health  Reports.  —  Chicago,  Board  of  Health  Re- 
port, 1867-1869,  with  Sanitary  History.  —  G.  W.  MORTON  :  Health  Laws  and 
Ordinances  of  New  York  City.  —  Boston,  Board  of  Health  Reports.  —  Balti- 
more, Health  Department  Reports.  — A.  W.  BLYTH  :  Manual  of  Public  Health. 
— STEVENSON  AND  MURPHY,  Treatise  on  Hygiene.  — A.  H.  BUCK  :  Hygiene  and 
Public  Health.  — American  Year  Book  of  Medicine  and  Surgery.  — ALBERT 
PALMBURY,  Public  Health  and  its  Applications  in  Different  European  Coun- 
tries (1893). — VON  PAPPENHEIM  :  Handbuch  der  Sanitats  Polizei. — J.  S. 
Billings,  in  Supplement  to  Vol.  I  of  Annals  of  American  Academy  of 
Political  Science. — American  Statistical  Association  Publications,  II,  297. 

—  Popular  Science  Monthly,  39  :  319-330.  —  American  Architecture,  63:61, 
67,  75.  —  T.  W.  ABBOTT  :  Past  and  Present  Condition  of  Public  Hygiene  in  the 
United  States.  —  Forum,  15 : 304,  727 ;  16 : 346  ;  20 : 747.  —  Engineering  Maga- 
zine, 3  : 316,  New  York  City.  —Journal  of  Franklin  Institute,  143  : 241 ;  137  : 
266.  — Review  of  Reviews,  21 : 67-70.  — North  American  Review,  170 : 648-562. 

BUILDING  LAWS 

American  Architect,  ZZ-.QQ,  150;  35: 38;  39:26;  40:115;  58:74;  66:33.— 
Builder,  November  30,  1895,  Municipal  Control  of  Buildings.  —  Engineering 
Magazine,  5  : 756-762.  — EMDEN  AND  JOHNSTON,  Law  relating  to  Buildings.  — 
Architectural  Record,  1 :  69.  —  Engineering  Record,  40:119,  333,  367.— 
Report  Commissioner  of  Labor,  VIII,  ch.  vi,  96-130.  — STENGEL:  Worterbuch 
des  Deutschen  Verwaltungsrecht,  article  Baupolizei. 

Atlantic,  83  : 626,  760  ;  84  : 18-637,  745.  —  Forum,  19 :  83-94.  —  Annals  of 
American  Academy,  15 : 138-141 ;  16 : 160,  164.  —  Review  of  Reviews,  21 :689- 
696. — Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  14  : 378-393.  —  Contemporary  Review, 
77  : 323-333  ;  Charities  Review,  10  : 292-297  ;  Engineering  Record,  40 : 377. 

—  Economic  Studies,  Vol.  III. 


POLICE   ADMINISTRATION 

THE  word  "  police  "  has  a  wide  variety  of  meanings.  Ety- 
mologically,  it  signifies  the  entire  public  activity  of  the  city- 
state,  and  in  Germany  to-day  police  administration  includes 


PUBLIC   HEALTH   AND   SAFETY  127 

the  whole  sphere  of  internal  governmental  administration. 
In  a  somewhat  more  limited  sense  the  word  is  used  in  the 
United  States  to  indicate  a  sphere  of  governmental  action 
that  is  definable  only  to  this  extent,  that  it  excludes  foreign 
relations  and  the  economic  functions  of  government.  The 
police  power  of  the  American  states  extends  to  all  matters 
that  affect  public  order  and  the  moral  and  physical  health  of 
the  community.  In  this  chapter,  however,  the  word  "police  " 
is  used  in  its  narrowest  sense,  to  denote  the  special  machinery 
for  the  preservation  of  order  and  the  prevention  and  detec- 
tion of  crime.  This  machinery  is  found  more  particularly  in 
modern  urban  municipalities.  It  consists  of  an  organized 
and  disciplined  force  of  men  for  the  systematic  patrol  of  the 
public  ways  and  of  special  magistrates  for  dealing  summarily 
with  the  large  mass  of  minor  cases  which  demand  prompt 
decision. 

Such  machinery  in  its  present  form  is  of  recent  origin ;  and, 
indeed,  it  is  closely  connected  with  the  growth  of  densely 
populated  urban  communities.  In  ancient  Rome  there  was 
a  systematic  police  administration,  at  first  under  the  control 
of  the  sediles,  who  date  from  the  third  century  of  the  city; 
while  under  the  empire  a  more  perfect  organization  was 
created.  The  municipalities  of  the  Roman  Empire  also  had 
some  system  of  police,  modelled  after  that  in  Rome.  During 
the  feudal  centuries,  however,  we  find  no  trace  of  any  organ- 
ized police  systems,  although  the  manorial  lords  exercised 
police  jurisdiction  in  connection  with  their  judicial  admin- 
istration. In  the  mediaeval  free  cities  this  police  jurisdic- 
tion passed  from  the  lords  to  the  city  authorities ;  but  there 
was  no  patrol  service  or  organized  police  force  in  the  modern 
sense  of  the  word.1 

Evolution  of  the  Modern  Municipal  Police 

!  The  first  steps  toward  the  modern  system  were  taken  in 
France.  Under  Philip  of  Valois  there  were  definitely  estab- 

1  Even  Venice  had  nothing  approaching  the  modern  urban  constabulary. 
See  W.  C.  Hazlitt,  The  Venetian  Republic,  II,  516-519. 


128  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

lished  at  Paris  in  1327  a  number  of  commissaires^  royal  officers 
distinct  from  the  judicial  system,  with  power  to  conduct 
preliminary  examinations  and  investigations  in  the  enforce- 
ment of  law  and  order.  In  other  towns  in  France  no  attempt 
was  made  to  separate  the  police  magistracy  from  the  judicial 
system  until  1514,  when  similar  commissaires  were  appointed 
in  each  royal  bailliage.  The  beginnings  of  an  organized 
police  force  may  be  dated  from  the  establishment,  in  1356, 
of  a  military  body  known  as  the  mar£chauss£e,  to  take  cog- 
nizance of  crimes  committed  by  soldiers  in  the  king's  serviqe 
The  jurisdiction  of  this  force  included  deserters  from  the 
army,  and  thus  reached  one  important  class  of  those  likely 
to  cause  public  disturbances;  in  time  its  authority  was 
extended  to  include  all  assaults,  robberies,  and  murders 
committed  on  the  highways;  and  it  is  from  this  body, 
reorganized  in  1720,  that  the  present  gendarmerie  of  France 
has  developed. 

^An  important  step  in  the  development  of  a  systematic 
police  patrol  of  urban  communities  was  the  creation  of  a 
lieutenant  of  police  for  Paris  in  1667,  under  whom  was  a 
body  of  soldiers  acting  as  guards  for  the  city.  In  1669  a  lieu- 
tenant of  police  was  appointed  by  the  king  for  each  town  in 
France  where  there  was  a  parlement  or  presidial  court,  and 
later  the  system  was  extended  to  other  provincial  cities. 

The  police  arrangements  of  Paris  continued  to  be  the  most 
advanced  in  any  European  city,  and  a  description  of  the 
system  there  in  1763  will  indicate  the  highest  development 
reached  up  to  that  time.J  /There  were  then  48  commissaires 
of  policejwhose  duties  resembled  those  of  the  English  jus- 
tices of  the  peace ;  but  the  offices  in  France  were  salaried  and 
were  filled  by  men  of  a  lower  social  standing  than  the  Eng- 
lish country  justices.  (The  patrol  force  consisted  altogether 
of  750  men,  of  whom  600  constituted  practically  a  military 
force,  armed  and  disciplined,  and  one-third  of  them  mounted. 
The  day  force  did  not  attempt  any  continuous  patrol  of  the 
streets,  but  was  stationed  at  certain  posts,  ready  to  act  in 
case  of  an  unusual  public  disturbance.  The  night  patrol  was 
more  systematic ;  but  it  is  significant  of  the  conditions  of  the 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND   SAFETY  129 

time  that  the  guards  performed  their  duty  not  individually, 
but  always  in  small  bands.1 

In  other  French  cities  there  was  less  attempt  at  a  sys- 
tematic patrol  of  the  streets  than  in  the  capital.  Indeed, 
the  police  system  for  the  whole  of  France,  which  was  under 
the  immediate  control  of  a  royal  minister,  was  a  political 
organization,  whose  principal  function  was  the  detection 
and  suppression  of  attacks  on  the  government,  while  the 
maintenance  of  peace  and  order  was  but  incidental.  Some 
of  the  German  states  had  a  less  developed,  but  similar  cen- 
tralized police  system,  mainly  political  in  nature.  Even  in 
Berlin  there  seems  to  have  been  no  regular  day  patrol,  and 
the  night  watch  at  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  con- 
sisted of  but  fifty-four  men.2  For  the  suppression  of  serious 
outbreaks  in  the  cities,  the  military  forces  were  called  into 
action. 

Urban  police  arrangements  in  England  at  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century  were  even  more  primitive  than  those  in 
the  continental  cities.  The  primary  feature  in  the  English 
system  was  the  justice  of  the  peace,  an  office  dating  from  the 
reign  of  Edward  III.  The  justices  were  appointed  by  the 
Crown ;  but,  as  they  were  chosen  from  the  local  gentry,  served 
without  salary,  and  were  subject  to  no  active  administrative 
control  by  the  central  government,  they  were,  in  practice, 
independent  local  officials,  radically  different  from  the  com- 
missaires  of  police  in  the  French  system.  Each  justice  had 
under  his  direction  a  small  number  of  parish  constables,  who 
were  in  no  sense  trained  officers,  but  persons  serving  tran- 
siently, and  acting  mainly  under  specific  instructions  from 
the  justices.  In  the  towns  the  inhabitants  were  charged  by 
the  statute  of  Winchester  3  with  the  additional  duty  of  watch 
and  ward;  but  this  service,  like  that  of  the  justices,  was 
entirely  gratuitous,  and  no  effective  watch  was  maintained. 

This  system  of  unpaid  justices  and  constables,  which  had 
worked  satisfactorily  under  rural  conditions,  did  not  prove 

1  W.  Mildmay,  Police  of  Paris  (1763),  pp.  43  ff. 

2  Hevue  des  Deux  Mondes,  CCXXVII,  159. 
8  3  Edward  I,  ch.  iv. 

K 


130  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

adapted  to  urban  communities.  The  first  step  toward  a 
change  was  made  during  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  when  certain  boroughs  and  London  parishes  received 
special  parliamentary  authority  to  employ  a  force  of  paid 
night  watchmen,  and  to  levy  a  local  rate  for  their  support. 
The  watchmen  appointed  were,  however,  poorly  paid;  they 
followed  regular  occupations  during  the  day,  and  they  were 
subject  to  no  training  or  discipline._J  Moreover,  with  the 
increase  of  urban  population,  the  work  of  the  justices  became 
so  great  and,  at  the  same  time,  so  repulsive,  that  men  of 
standing  withdrew  from  the  task,  and  the  places  were  occu- 
pied by  men  attracted  by  the  opportunities  for  pecuniary 
gain  and  extortion.  About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  a  responsible  presiding  magistrate  with  a  salary  was 
appointed  to  the  Bow  Street  Court  in  the  city  of  London,1 
and  the  improved  conditions  that  followed  gave  to  the  court 
a  deserved  celebrity  in  the  annals  of  the  time.  But  the 
numerous  population  outside  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  city 
magistrate  was  not  affected  by  this  change ;  and  it  was  not 
until  1792  that  a  law  was  enacted  (the  Middlesex  Justices 
Bill)  providing  for  the  metropolitan  community  seven  addi- 
tional police  courts,  with  permanent  salaried  magistrates. 
/The  constable  and  night-watch  systems  had  remained  up 
to  this  time  in  their  former  crudeness.  Their  inadequacy  to 
the  urban  conditions  which  had  arisen  was  more  especially 
shown  in  London,  where  the  jurisdiction  of  a  watch  com- 
mission never  extended  beyond  a  single  parish,  and  in  some 
parishes  there  were  several  watch  commissions,  St.  Pancras 
having  no  less  than  eighteen.  Thus  it  often  happened  that 
the  watchman  on  one  side  of  a  street  could  not  help  one 
on  the  other  side,  because  they  were  in  different  parishes  or 
watch  districts.  At  the  same  time,  many  metropolitan  par- 
ishes had  no  systematic  night  watch,  and  in  a  few  cases  there 
were  no  night  watchmen  at  all^J  Each  magistrate  had  a 
small  body  of  police  officers  attached  to  his  court,  but  their 
duties  were  confined  to  the  execution  of  specific  orders,  and 

1  The  novelist  Fielding  at  one  time  occupied  this  position. 
a  Contemporary  Review,  LV,  624. 


PUBLIC    HEALTH  AND   SAFETY  131 

there  was  no  system  of  day  patrol.  The  inevitable  result 
of  such  conditions  was  a  startling  prevalence  of  crime  and 
disorder,  while  in  cases  of  serious  disturbance  peace  was 
preserved  only  by  the  display  of  military  force. 
I  A  small  improvement  was  made  in  1805,  when  a  patrol 
was  organized  for  the  central  part  of  London  during  the  early 
hours  of  the  night.  But  it  was  not  until  1828  that  the  great 
step  was  taken  in  the  passage  of  Peel's  Act.  This  swept 
away  the  old  parochial  organizations  for  police  purposes  in 
the  metropolis,  and  established  a  new  constabulary  force  for 
the  entire  district,  under  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
Crown  —  the  first  modern  police  force  in  the  world.  The  act 
provided  for  a  thoroughly  organized  corps  of  policemen,  sub- 
ject to  strict  training  and  discipline ;  a  systematic  day  and 
night  patrol  of  the  whole  area,  which  was  divided  into  sec- 
tions and  definite  beats  for  each  officer ;  a  force  of  reserves 
stationed  at  the  police  headquarters,  and  mobilizing  arrange- 
ments for  suppressing  serious  tumults.1  As  first  established, 
the  new  system  did  not  abolish  the  police  of  the  city  of  Lon- 
don, the  Thames  River  police,  or  the  constables  of  the  magis- 
trates ;  but  in  1839  the  latter  two  classes  were  absorbed,  and 
in  the  same  year  the  city  reorganized  its  police  force  on  the 
new  modeLj 

This  new  police  system  in  London  was  bitterly  attacked, 
as  "  one  of  the  greatest  inroads  on  the  principles  and  practice 
of  the  British  constitution  that  modern  times  have  wit- 
nessed."2 The  new  police  officer  was  styled  a  mercenary,  a 
hireling,  a  slave  of  the  executive,  charged  with  detestable 
duties  and  intrusted  with  arbitrary  power.  Nevertheless, 
the  main  features  of  the  system,  with  the  exception  of  direct 
control  by  the  central  government,  were  rapidly  adopted  in 
other  British  cities.  The  Municipal  Corporations  Act  of 
1835  authorized  the  organization  of  police  corps  in  all 
boroughs,  each  force  to  be  under  the  control  of  the  mayor 
and  the  watch  committee  of  the  council ;  and  by  1840,  when 
the  metropolitan  force  consisted  of  some  3500  men,  that  of 

1  Edinburgh  Review,  XCVI,  1. 

2  Blackwootf  s  Magazine,  XXIX,  85. 


132  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

Liverpool  had  600  men,  Manchester  325,  and  Birmingham 
300.  In  1839  the  formation  of  county  police  for  the  smaller 
towns  and  rural  districts  was  authorized.  In  1856  the  sys- 
tem of  county  police  was  made  compulsory ;  and  at  the  same 
time  a  scheme  of  inspection  of  all  the  local  police  by  the 
central  government  was  organized,  in  connection  with  sub- 
sidies paid  by  the  central  government  toward  the  cost  of  the 
local  police. 

•  Early  arrangements  for  the  preservation  of  peace  and  order 
in  American  cities  were  much  the  same  as  in  the  English 
towns,  and  the  establishment  of  a  well-organized  police  sys- 
tem in  this  country  followed  after  the  new  English  system 
was  well  under  way.  Thus,  in  New  York  city,  in  1840, 
when  the  population  numbered  310,000,  the  police  consisted 
of  2  constables  elected  in  each  of  the  17  wards,  a  body  of 
about  100  men  called  mayor's  marshals,  a  night  watch  of 
some  300  citizens,  who  during  the  day  pursued  their  occupa- 
tions as  cartmen,  stevedores,  porters,  etc.,  and  about  100  other 
officials  with  a  large  variety  of  titles,  such  as  wardens,  bell- 
ringers,  and  inspectors  of  various  kinds.1  There  was  evi- 
dently no  systematic  day  patrol,  and  the  various  classes  of 
officials  had  no  effective  organization^  Philadelphia  in  1833 
had  a  body  of  24  day  policemen  and  120  night  watchmen. 
Boston  in  1849  had  22  day  police  and  200  night  watchmen, 
each  class  forming  an  entirely  distinct  force.  Other  cities 
had  similarly  small  bodies  of  constables  and  police  officers, 
with  a  considerable  number  of  night  watchmen ;  but  in  no 
case  was  there  any  efficient  organization,  training,  or  dis- 
cmline  in  the  service. 

/A  legislative  statute  of  May,  1844,  abolished  the  long  list 
of  officials  in  New  York  city  and  provided  for  a  single  body 
of  police,  and  about  a  year  afterward  the  new  system  went 
into  operation.  The  new  force  consisted  of  800  men.  The 
chief  was  appointed  by  the  mayor,  with  the  consent  of  the 
council;  while  the  captains  and  men  were  appointed  annu- 
ally in  each  ward  by  the  alderman,  assistant  alderman,  and 
assessor  from  the  ward.  It  is  obvious  that  with  such  a 

1  Costello,  Our  Police  Protectors,  p.  102  ;  Scribner's  Magazine,  XVI,  342. 


PUBLIC    HEALTH   AND   SAFETY  133 

method  of  appointment  the  police  officers  could  not  become 
a  permanent  force,  while  the  defective  discipline  and  organ- 
ization are  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the  members  of  the 
force  prevented  the  adoption  of  a  uniform.  In  1853  some 
changes  were  introduced  which  effected  considerable  improve- 
ment. The  mayor,  recorder,  and  city  judge  were  created  a 
board  of  police  commissioners,  with  full  power  of  appointing 
members  of  the  force,  who  were  to  hold  their  positions  during 
good  behavior,  thus  establishing  a  permanent  force  capable 
of  discipline  and  organized  action.  By  degrees,  too,  a  uni- 
form was  introduced,  and  was  accepted  by  the  menj 

The  example  of  New  York  was  soon  followed  by  other 
cities.  In  1850  a  police  district  was  created,  including 
Philadelphia  and  its  suburbs,  in  which  an  organized  police 
force  of  800  men  was  established.1  By  the  extension  of  the 
boundaries  of  Philadelphia  in  1853,  this  force  became  a  branch 
of  the  government  of  the  enlarged  city.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, until  1860  that  uniforms  were  adopted  for  the  Phila- 
delphia police.  In  Boston  the  dual  system  of  watch  and 
police  was  abolished  in  1854,  and  the  Boston  Police  Depart- 
ment established  with  250  men.2  The  Baltimore  police 
force  was  established  in  1857  with  350  uniformed  officers.3 
/Up  to  this  time  the  police  in  American  cities  had  been 
entirely  under  the  control  of  local  officials.  But  in  1857  the 
New  York  legislature  established  a  metropolitan  police  dis- 
trict, including  New  York  city,  Brooklyn,  and  surrounding 
territory,  and  created  a  state  commission  to  control  the  police 
administration  in  this  district^  .Similar  state  police  boards 
were  provided  for  Baltimore  in  1860,  St.  Louis  and  Chicago 
in  1861,  Detroit  in  1865,  and  Cleveland  in  1866J  In  the 
last-named  city  the  state  board  continued  only  two  years ;  in 
Chicago,  only  until  1865 ;  and  that  in  New  York  was  abol- 
ished in  1870.  The  Detroit  state  board,  however,  continued 
until  1891 ;  the  Baltimore  and  St.  Louis  boards  are  still  state 
authorities ;  while  more  recently  other  state  boards  for  par- 

1  H.  O.  Sprogle,  The  Philadelphia  Police. 

2  E.  H.  Savage,  The  Boston  Watch  and  Police. 
8  De  Francias  Folsom,  Our  Police. 


134  MUNICIPAL   ACTIVITIES 

ticular  cities  have  been  established,  notably  for  Boston  in 
1885  and  for  Cincinnati  in  1876. 

On  the  continent  of  Europe  there  have  also  been  important 
developments  in  police  administration  during  the  nineteenth 
century.  In  1812  Prussia  established  a  military  gendarmerie 
on  the  general  lines  of  the  French  organization,1  and  in  1830 
authorized  the  municipal  authorities  of  any  city  where  no  gar- 
rison was  stationed  to  establish  a  local  police  force.2  But 
for  the  continent  in  general  the  military  was,  during  the 
first  half  of  the  century,  the  most  important  factor  in  main- 
taining order.  Thus  the  civil  police  of  Paris  in  1854  con- 
sisted of  only  450  men  on  patrol  duty  and  300  other  men  on 
special  duties,3  while  the  main  task  of  preserving  peace  fell 
to  small  garrisons  of  soldiers  in  various  parts  of  the  city. 
In  that  year,  however,  the  police  system  of  Paris  was  reor- 
ganized, somewhat  on  the  lines  of  the  London  police.  The 
soldiers  were  removed  and  a  systematic  patrol  system  estab- 
lished, with  a  force  of  3000  men.  This  body  was  under  the 
direct  control  of  the  central  government,  which  paid  a  part 
of  the  additional  expense  of  the  new  system.  Since  that 
time,  in  other  continental  cities,  the  main  features  of  the 
English  system  have  been  adopted,  but  the  police  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  remain  even  now  a  more  military  body  than 
the  English  police. 

At  thejpresent  time,  notjoply  1"   the  largft  nrhaiT^ngntr^ 
Tint  nlnn  in   ft  verL-Gorisi  derail  ft  town 


urope  and  America,  there  is  to  be  found 


umformed^and  disciplinedTpolice  force.  The  various  bodies 
in  Great  Britain  aggregate  47,000  men  ;  and  in  the  United 
States,  in  cities  of  over  30,000  population,  there  are  28,000 
policemen.  The  metropolitan  police  of  London,  numbering 
15,000  men,  is  by  far  the  largest  force  under  a  single  direc- 
tion ;  the  Paris  police  includes  about  8000  men,  that  of  New 
York  7500,  Berlin  4500,  Vienna  3500,  Chicago  3000,  Phila- 
delphia 2400.  In  the  smaller  cities  the  size  of  the  force  is 

1  Bornhak,  Preussisches  Verwaltungsrechtj  II,  126. 

2  Von  Ronne,  Staatsrecht  der  Preuss.  Monarchic,  II,  2,  p.  98. 
8  Block,  Administration  de  Paris,  p.  767. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH   AND   SAFETY  185 

not  only  less  absolutely,  but  —  and  this  is  significant  —  is 
in  every  country  less  in  proportion  to  population  than  in 
the  largest  cities.  Cities  of  about  50,000  inhabitants  fre- 
quently have  not  more  than  5  or  6  policemen  to  each  10,000 
of  population;  in  cities  of  about  100,000  population  the 
number  of  policemen  usually  averages  at  least  10  per 
10,000;  where  the  population  is  as  large  as  500,000,  there 
are  generally  somewhere  near  15  policemen  per  10,000; 
while  of  the  largest  cities  New  York  has  20,  London  24, 
Berlin  25,  and  Paris  over  30  policemen  to  each  10,000 
inhabitants. 

This  increasing  proportion  of  policemen  in  the  larger  cities 
emphasizes  what  has  already  been  indicated  in  noting  the 
recent  development  of  the  present  police  system,  that  there 
is  a  close  relation  between  urban  conditions  and  the  police 
patrol.  In  a  thinly  settled  community  crowds  cannot  easily 
gather,  the  residents  are  well  known  to  each  other,  and 
strangers  are  quickly  noted.  Under  these  conditions  viola- 
tions of  law  and  order  can  be  readily  traced  and  wrong-doers 
quickly  apprehended.  But  in  a  densely  populated  city, 
where  outsiders  continually  come  and  go,  and  where  even 
the  inhabitants  are  strangers  to  one  another,  there  are  large 
opportunities  for  criminals  to  escape  and  for  riotous  disturb- 
ances to  develop.  It  is  these  conditions  which  have  led  to 
the  development  of  a  systematic  and  disciplined  police;  and> 
since  the  conditions  are  accentuated  in  the  larger  cities,  these 
great  urban  communities  demand  a  more  than  proportional 
development  of  their  police  system.  This  rule  is,  like  all 
such  empirical  rules,  true  only  in  the  main ;  and  exceptional 
conditions  demand  unusual  police  strength  in  some  cities 
not  of  the  largest  size,  as  in  Dublin,  Calcutta,  and  some  of 
the  principal  cities  of  South  America.  In  the  United 
States,  cities  in  the  South,  including  Washington,  have  a 
larger  proportion  of  policemen  than  the  Northern  cities, 
probably  on  account  of  the  large  negro  population.  Other 
variations  are  not  so  easily  explained.  Thus,  it  is  not  evi- 
dent why  Detroit,  New  Haven,  Albany,  and  Troy  should 
find  it  necessary  to  have  a  larger  police  force  than  most  cities 


136  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

of  the  same  population,  or  why  Chicago,  Cleveland,   and 
Denver  have  a  smaller  force  than  the  average.1 

Organization  of  Municipal  Police 

Since  the  police  force  of  each  city  forms  a  distinct  corps, 
the  system  of  organization  in  different  cities' varies  widely; 
but,  nevertheless,  some  general  features  in  the  organization 
of  the  trained  uniformed  force  can  be  noted. 

In  very  small  cities  the  only  division  of  labor  is  that 
between  the  head  of  the  force  and  the  small  body  of  privates 
or  patrolmen;  but  when  the  force  is  somewhat  larger,  it  is 
usually  organized  after  the  model  of  a  military  company. 
In  the  first  rank  above  the  patrolmen  are  certain  officers, 
called  in  America  roundsmen  or  sergeants,  who  make  periodic 
tours  of  the  city  to  make  sure  that  the  patrolmen  are  at  their 
posts.  Above  these  is  a  lieutenant  or  sergeant,  stationed  at 
headquarters,  over  whom  is  the  captain  or  chief.  For  the 
larger  cities  this  organization  becomes  a  unit  in  a  more  com- 
plex system.  The  city  is  divided  into  a  number  of  police 
districts,  or  precincts,  each  of  which  has  a  station  and  a 
detachment  of  men  organized  in  a  way  similar  to  that  just 
described,  while  above  the  various  precinct  captains  is  the 
chief  of  police  for  the  entire  city.  In  the  great  cities  the 
precincts  are  organized  in  groups,  each  group  having  at  its 
head  an  officer  intermediate  between  the  chief  and  the  cap- 
tains. The  metropolitan  cities  find  necessary  additional 
intermediate  offices,  so  that  in  New  York,  for  example,  the 
hierarchy  of  police  officers  is :  chief,2  deputy  chiefs,  inspectors, 
captains,  sergeants,  roundsmen,  and  patrolmen.  Moreover, 
in  the  large  cities  there  are  also  organized  special  detach- 
ments outside  of  the  regular  precinct  organization,  such  as 
the  mounted  squad,  the  bicycle  squad,  the  river  or  harbor 
police,  the  sanitary  police,  and  the  detective  bureau. 

Over  the  permanent  corps  of  disciplined,  trained,  and  uni- 

1  Cf .  Bulletin  of  the  Department  of  Labor,  September,  1900. 

2  In  the  spring  of  1901  the  office  of  chief  of  police  in  New  York  city  was 
legislated  out  of  existence  ;  but  the  former  incumbent  was  made  first  deputy 
commissioner,  and  in  this  capacity  continued  to  direct  the  force. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND   SAFETY  137 

formed  police  there  is  a  system  of  external  non-professional 
control.  But  while  the  organization  of  the  permanent  force 
is,  in  general,  along  the  lines  indicated,  the  methods  of 
control  are  not  only  far  from  uniform,  but  represent  radically 
different  ideas.  These  differences  exist  both  in  the  compo- 
sition of  the  lay  authority  and  in  its  relation  to  the  central 
governments  and  municipalities. 

As  to  the  composition  of  the  higher  police  authority,  there 
are  two  principal  systems :  that  of  the  board  or  committee, 
and  that  of  the  single  head.  The  latter  is  practically  uni- 
versal throughout  continental  Europe,  where  the  maire^  bur- 
gomaster, or  prefect  has  immediate  control  of  the  chief  of 
police.  The  same  system  prevails  in  most  of  the  less  impor- 
tant cities  in  the  United  States;  and  in  a  number  of  the 
large  cities,  such  as  New  York,1  Chicago,  Philadelphia, 
Cleveland,  Detroit,1  Minneapolis,  Syracuse,  Rochester, 
Albany,  and  Troy,  a  single  director  or  superintendent  exer- 
cises the  civil  control  over  the  permanent  force.  The  board 
system  of  control  is  employed  throughout  Great  Britain, 
where  the  watch  committee  of  the  municipal  council  —  an 
unsalaried  and  slowly  changing  body  —  is  the  supervising 
authority.  Over  the  metropolitan  police  for  London  there 
is  a  commissioner  and  three  assistant  commissioners,  forming 
a  salaried  board,  in  which  the  chairman  is  much  the  most 
important  member. 

The  system  of  appointed  salaried  police  boards  was  at  one 
time  almost  universal  in  large  American  cities ;  and  while 
in  many  places  these  boards  have  been  replaced  by  single 
officials,  the  board  system  is  still  to  be  found  in  St.  Louis, 
Boston,  Cincinnati,  and  New  Orleans.  The  Boston  police 
commission  has  three  members;  that  of  New  Orleans,  six; 
the  other  cities  named  have  each  four;  while  the  statutes 
generally  require  that  not  more  than  two  shall  be  members 
of  the  same  political  party.  This  requirement,  that  the 
boards  shall  be  bi-partisan,  has  been  established  ostensibly 
because  the  machinery  of  elections  is  often  under  the  control 
of  the  police  authorities,  so  that  precautions  are  necessary 

1  Since  the  spring  of  1901. 


138  MUNICIPAL   ACTIVITIES 

to  prevent  one  party  from  controlling  this  machinery.  The 
system,  however,  seriously  affects  the  administration  of  the 
police.  Deadlocks  in  bi-partisan  boards  are  avoidable  only 
by  "  deals  "  between  the  representatives  of  the  two  parties, 
while  neither  party  can  be  held  responsible  for  mismanage- 
ment. With  a  separate  election  bureau  there  is  no  adequate 
reason  for  a  bi-partisan  police  board;  indeed,  there  is  little 
reason  for  a  board  of  any  kind,  since  a  single  police  director 
is  a  more  efficient  and  a  more  responsible  authority. 

It  is  important  to  note  the  great  variety  of  forms  which 
the  relations  of  state  and  municipal  authorities  present  in 
respect  to  police  administration.  In  this  field,  more  than 
in  any  other,  which  is  in  any  sense  considered  a  municipal 
function,  the  higher  governmental  authorities  have  asserted 
and  exercised  their  power  to  inspect,  to  supervise,  and  even 
to  assume  the  entire  management. 

The  most  important  regions  where  the  entire  police  system 
exists  as  a  purely  state  institution,  with  no  local  control, 
are  certain  countries  under  British  authority :  Ireland,  India, 
the  South  African  and  Australian  colonies,  Egypt,  and 
smaller  dependencies  under  the  British  Crown.  The  Royal 
Irish  Constabulary,  which  is  the  only  police  throughout  Ire- 
land, is  almost  a  military  force ;  it  is  well  drilled,  occupies 
barracks  in  the  various  towns,  and  is  under  the  immediate 
control  of  the  executive  government  at  Dublin.  In  India 
the  urban  police  is  under  the  direction  of  the  central  gov- 
ernments in  the  various  provinces,  although  the  larger  munic- 
ipalities make  contributions  toward  the  support  of  the  forces 
on  duty  within  their  respective  limits.  New  South  Wales, 
the  principal  Australian  state,  is  divided  into  eleven  police 
districts,  the  metropolitan  area,  including  Sydney  and  sub- 
urbs, forming  one;  and  in  each  district  the  police  force  is 
under  an  inspector-general  and  superintendent  of  police, 
appointed  by  the  state  government. 

In  Russia,  Bavaria,  Wiirttemberg,  and  Greece  the  entire 
police  system  is  almost  equally  centralized.  For  each  of  the 
large  Russian  cities  there  is  a  master  of  police,  appointed  by 


PUBLIC   HEALTH   AND   SAFETY  139 

the  government,  who  determines  the  numerical  strength  of 
the  force,  the  disciplinary  rules,  salaries,  and  appointments. 
The  expenditure  is  paid  by  the  municipal  authorities ;  but 
they  have  no  option  in  the  matter,  as  the  central  government 
makes  this  an  obligatory  item  in  the  budget. 

While  the  entire  police  system  in  Prussia  is  not  so  com- 
pletely centralized,  in  most  of  the  important  Prussian  cities 
the  immediate  direction  of  the  local  police  is  in  charge  of  a 
special  commissioner  appointed  by  the  king.  Twenty-one 
cities  have  such  commissioners,  the  list  including  Berlin,  all 
the  cities  with  over  150,000  inhabitants,  and  six  of  the  eigh- 
teen with  from  50,000  to  150,000  population.  This  feature 
of  the  Prussian  system  is  found  on  a  less  extended  scale  in 
almost  every  other  country  where  the  general  police  system 
is  largely  under  municipal  control.  In  London,1  Paris, 
Lyons,  Vienna,  and  other  European  capitals  the  local  police 
forces  are  under  the  immediate  contrpTnf  f,hp,  varifmfi  pfmtral 
governments^  So,  too,  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  in  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  Buenos  Ayres,  and  Tokio  the  police  are  a  part  of 
the  national,  and  not  of  the  municipal,  administration.  Even 
in  the  United  States  there  are  a  number  of  important  instances 
where  the  police  force  is  under  the  management  of  a  board 
appointed  by  the  state  government.  This  is  now  the  case  in 
St.  Louis,  Boston,  Baltimore,  Cincinnati,  and  San  Francisco 
(five  of  the  ten  largest  cities) ;  also  in  Washington,  Denver, 
Newport  (R.I.),  Kansas  City,  Fall  River,  St.  Joseph, 
Birmingham,  Manchester  (N.H.),  and  in  eleven  Indiana 
cities.2 

In  Europe  the  system  of  state  police  administration  is  often 
accompanied  by  grants  from  the  central  government  toward 
the  support  of  the  police.  Four-fifths  of  the  cost  of  the  Ber- 
lin police  and  one-third  of  the  cost  of  the  London  and  Paris 
police  are  paid  in  this  way.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the 

1  The  metropolitan  police  district  is  much  larger  than  the  administrative 
county  of  London.    It  includes  all  of  the  parishes  within  fifteen  miles  of 
Charing  Cross,  and  contains  690  square  miles,  with  a  population  of  6,578,000. 

2  Terre  Haute,  South  Bend,  Anderson,  Elkhart,  Kichmond,  Huntington, 
Jeffersonville,  La  Fayette,  Logansport,  Muncie,  and  New  Albany. 


140  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

American  cities  even  where  there  is  a  state  police  board,  the 
entire  cost  of  the  police  is  paid  by  the  municipality. 

Many  countries,  where  there  are  local  police,  have  also  a 
force  of  state  police,  under  the  immediate  charge  of  the 
central  government.  These  state  forces  are,  in  most  cases, 
modelled  after  the  French  gendarmerie.  This  is  a  branch  of 
the  regular  army,  enlisted,  organized,  and  controlled  by  the 
military  department.  The  gendarmes  act  as  a  sort  of  mounted 
police:  in  the  cities  they  conduct  prisoners  from  jails  to 
courts  and  stand  by  them  in  criminal  docks,  are  stationed  at 
theatres  and  other  places  of  public  amusement,  and  line  the 
streets  to  keep  order  during  pageants;  while  in  the  country 
districts  they  do  the  regular  work  of  patrol.  Similar  organ- 
izations, under  the  direct  control  of  the  central  governments, 
are  to  be  found  in  Belgium,  the  Netherlands,  Austria,  Italy, 
Portugal,  Spain,  Mexico,  and  most  of  the  South  American 
countries.  The  Canadian  mounted  police,  organized  by 
the  Dominion  government  and  employed  in  the  preservation 
of  order  in  the  Northwest  territories,  also  resemble  the 
European  gendarmerie. 

In  the  countries  of  continental  Europe  just  mentioned  the 
local  police  are,  to  some  extent,  under  municipal  control,  but 
are  also  subject  to  a  large  degree  of  supervision  by  the 
central  governments.  This  central  supervision  is  probably 
strongest  in  France  and  Prussia.  The  maires  of  the  French 
communes,  who  are  elected  by  the  local  councils,  have  the 
power  of  appointing  the  police  officers.  They  do  so,  how- 
ever, not  as  representatives  of  the  municipality,  but  in  their 
capacity  as  agents  of  the  state ;  and  their  appointments  must 
be  accepted  by  the  prefect  of  the  department,  who  has  also 
the  right  of  revoking  the  suspension  and  preventing  the 
removal  of  any  officer.  Moreover,  it  is  not  the  council  but 
the  maire  (again  subject  to  the  control  of  the  prefect)  who 
makes  police  regulations.  Further,  in  all  cities  of  over 
40, 000  population,  the  organization  of  the  local  force  is  regu- 
lated by  a  decree  of  the  president  of  the  republic,  and  the 
function  of  the  municipal  council  is  confined  to  recommend- 
ing a  scheme.  Finally,  the  commissaires  of  police  in  all 


PUBLIC   HEALTH   AND   SAFETY  141 

cities  of  over  6000  population  are  appointed  by  the  president, 
on  the  recommendation  of  the  minister  of  the  interior,  and 
thus  furnish  the  means  for  an  effective  supervision  over  the 
local  officials.  The  expense  of  the  police  is  borne  by  the 
municipalities ;  but  this  is  one  of  the  obligatory  expenditures 
which  the  central  government  can  compel  the  city  to  make. 

In  those  Prussian  cities  where  there  is  not  a  state  police, 
appointments  to  the  police  force  are  made  by  the  municipal 
authorities,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  higher  govern- 
mental officials,  who  also  frame  the  rules  of  organization. 
The  expenses  of  the  police  are  paid  by  the  cities,  but  as  a 
contribution  toward  the  state  administration ;  and  even  the 
local  police  are  classed  distinctly,  not  as  a  part  of  the  munici- 
pal service,  but  as  a  branch  of  the  state  administration. 

The  system  of  central  control  in  Italy  is  no  less  complete 
than  in  France.  In  Austria  and  Belgium  the  local  authori- 
ties have  a  slightly  larger  degree  of  autonomy.  In  Belgium 
the  municipal  councils  enact  police  ordinances  without  the 
necessity  of  securing  the  approval  of  a  higher  authority,  and 
the  central  government  appoints  the  commissaires  of  police 
only  in  the  larger  cities. 

Outside  of  the  metropolitan  district,  the  British  police  sys- 
tem allows  a  greater  degree  of  local  control.  In  the  larger 
cities,  including  the  sixty  county  boroughs  and  most  of  the 
other  municipal  boroughs,  the  immediate  responsibility  for 
the  management  of  the  police  rests  with  the  watch  commit- 
tees of  the  town  councils.  In  most  towns  of  less  than  10,000 
inhabitants,  and  in  sixty  of  larger  size,1  the  urban  police  form 
part  of  the  county  police  under  the  control  of  the  county 
authorities.  There  is,  however,  over  both  borough  and 
county  police  a  thorough  system  of  supervision  by  the  in- 
spectors of  the  Home  Office.  This  inspection  requires  the 
local  authorities  to  keep  their  police  up  to  a  given  standard 
of  efficiency,  under  penalty  of  losing  the  parliamentary  grant, 
which  amounts,  in  general,  to  about  one-half  of  the  total 
cost  of  the  police. 

1  The  largest  boroughs  guarded  by  county  police  are  West  Bromwich 
(59,000)  and  Dudley  (45,000). 


142  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

In  the  United  States  the  police  arrangements  for  most 
cities  allow  the  municipal  authorities  a  much  larger  field  of 
action.  Apart  from  the  important  cases  of  state  commissions 
already  mentioned,  the  cities  maintain  and  direct  their  own 
police,  subject  to  no  active  administrative  control  on  the  part 
of  the  state  authorities.  Even  the  police  magistrates  are 
generally  locally  selected,  either  by  popular  election  or  by 
municipal  appointment.  For  many  large  cities,  however, 
the  organization  of  the  police  is  determined  in  great  detail 
by  legislative  enactments ;  while  the  statutes  requiring  the 
police  board  to  be  bi-partisan  still  further  limit  the  inde- 
pendence and  responsibility  of  the  local  authorities  in  the 
management  of  the  police. 

Nevertheless,  the  courts  in  the  United  States  have  re- 
peatedly declared  that  police  officers  are  not  private  or  corpo- 
rate officers  of  the  municipalities,  but  public  or  state  officers, 
and  that  where  the  municipality  has  immediate  control,  it  is 
acting  as  agent  of  the  state  government.  This  opinion  has 
been  set  forth  in  the  decisions  upholding  statutes  providing 
for  state-appointed  police  boards  in  New  York,  Michigan, 
Massachusetts,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  and  Maryland.1  In  New 
York,  however,  while  a  state  commission  was  allowed  for  a 
police  district  covering  a  territory  much  larger  than  any  city, 
an  act  making  a  single  city  into  a  police  district  with  a  state 
commission  was  declared  in  violation  of  the  constitutional 
provision  that  "municipal  officers  shall  be  elected  by  the 
electors  of  the  municipality  or  appointed  by  the  authorities 
thereof."2  In  Kentucky,  also,  it  has  been  held  that  a  statute 
for  the  appointment  of  police  officers  by  the  governor  was 
rendered  void  by  a  constitutional  provision  that  municipal 
officers  shall  be  elected.3 

Even  where  police  officers  are  appointed  by  the  city,  they 
are  held  by  the  courts  to  be  public  officers,  and  not  agents  or 

1  People  v.  Mahaney,  13  Mich.  481  ;  Commonwealth  v.  Plaisted,  148  Mass. 
374  ;  State  v.  Leavy,  22  Neb.  474  ;  State  v.  Hunter,  38  Kans.  578  ;  People  v. 
Mayor,  15  Md.  376  ;  People  v.  Draper,  15  N.  Y.  532. 

2  People  v.  Albertson,  55  N.  Y.  50. 

*  Shad  v.  Crawford,  3  Metcalfe,  Kentucky,  207. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH   AND   SAFETY  143 

servants  of  the  city,  in  such  a  sense  as  to  render  it  respon- 
sible for  their  unlawful  or  negligent  acts  in  the  discharge  of 
their  duties.1  This  rule  is  well  stated  in  the  case  of  Buttrick 
v.  the  City  of  Lowell :  — 

Police  officers  can  in  no  sense  be  regarded  as  agents  or  servants  of  the 
city.  Their  duties  are  of  a  public  nature.  Their  appointment  is  de- 
volved on  cities  and  towns  by  the  legislature  as  a  convenient  mode  of 
exercising  a  function  of  government;  but  this  does  not  render  them 
liable  for  their  unlawful  and  negligent  acts.  The  detention  and  arrest 
of  offenders,  the  preservation  of  the  public  peace,  the  enforcement  of  the 
laws,  and  other  similar  powers  and  duties  with  which  police  officers  and 
constables  are  intrusted  are  derived  from  the  law,  and  not  from  the  city 
or  town  under  which  they  hold  their  appointment.  For  the  mode  in 
which  they  exercise  their  powers  and  duties,  the'city  or  town  cannot  be 
held  liable. 

While  thus  it  must  be  frankly  recognized  that  even  in  the 
United  States  the  city  is  not  an  independent  political  unit 
in  police  matters,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  European  sys- 
tem of  state  police  is  in  accordance  with  American  institu- 
tions or  an  advisable  innovation  to  introduce.  The  police, 
even  when  controlled  by  state  commissions  in  American 
cities,  are  supported  from  local  taxes.  Their  work  is  inti- 
mately connected  with  almost  every  other  municipal  depart- 
ment, and  the  necessary  spirit  of  cooperation  is  not  promoted 
by  making  the  police  independent  of  the  municipal  authori- 
ties. Moreover,  much  of  their  work  is  in  the  enforcement  of 
local  ordinances.  For  these  reasons  it  is  important  that  the 
primary  control  of  the  police  force  should  be  vested  in  the 
representatives  of  the  municipality. 

At  the  same  time,  however,  it  is  equally  important  to 
recognize  that  the  public  nature  of  the  police  authority  fully 
warrants  the  state  government  in  establishing  a  large  measure 
of  supervision  over  the  municipal  police.  The  state  has  a 
right  to  require  the  local  police  to  enforce  the  state  laws, 

1  Buttrick  v.  Lowell,  1  Allen  (  Mass.),  172 ;  Caldwell  v.  Boone,  51  Iowa, 
687  ;  Odell  v.  Schroeder,  58  111.  353  ;  Prather  v.  Lexington,  13  B.  Monroe 
(Ky.),  559;  Worley  v.  Columbia,  88  Mo.  106;  Lafayette  v.  Timberlake,  88 
Ind.  330  ;  Norristown  v.  Fitzpatrick,  94  Pa.  St.  121 ;  Hannon  v.  Agnew,  96 
N.  Y.  439. 


144  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

and,  for  this  purpose,  to  establish  a  system  of  inspection, 
with  power  to  remove  delinquent  officials.  A  state  police 
bureau  could  also  act  as  a  clearing  house  for  the  detective 
work  of  the  police,  and  provide  an  official  organization  which 
would  make  more  effective  the  cooperation  of  police  authori- 
ties in  different  cities.  A  small  force  of  state  police  (such 
as  already  exists,  on  a  very  diminutive  scale,  in  Massachu- 
setts) 1  could  be  of  service  in  suppressing  disorder  in  rural 
districts  and  in  enforcing  such  state  laws  as  the  local  police 
fail  to  enforce.  Such  a  combination  of  state  and  local  action 
is  already  employed  in  many  states  in  the  work  of  public 
charity,  education,  and  health  regulation.  The  work  of  the 
police  equally  concerns  the  state  and  the  localities;  and 
here,  too,  a  system  of  cooperative  dual  administration  will 
prove  more  effective  than  either  a  state  police  or  independent 
municipal  police. 

Duties  of  the  Police 

Some  light  may  be  thrown  on  these  problems  of  organiza- 
tion by  noting,  in  some  detail,  the  duties  of  the  police.  The 
English  lighting  and  watching  statute  of  1833  contained 
the  following  provision :  — 

During  the  time  they  shall  be  on  duty,  the  policemen  shall :  use  their 
utmost  endeavors  to  prevent  all  robberies,  burglaries,  and  other  felonies 
and  misdemeanors,  and  other  outrages,  disorders,  and  breaches  of  the 
peace ;  and  to  apprehend  and  secure  all  felons,  rogues,  vagabonds,  and 
disorderly  persons  who  shall  disturb  the  public  peace,  or  any  party  or 
persons  wandering,  secreting,  or  misbehaving  himself,  herself,  or  them- 
selves, or  whom  they  shall  have  reasonable  cause  to  suspect  of  any  evil 
designs ;  and  to  secure  and  keep  in  safe  custody  any  such  person,  in  order 
that  he  or  she  may  be  conveyed  as  soon  as  conveniently  may  be  before  a 
justice  of  the  peace  to  be  examined  and  dealt  with  according  to  law.2 

The  duties  here  laid  down  are  still  the  most  important 
functions  of  the  police,  and  it  is  in  the  discharge  of  these 
functions  that  the  policemen  have  the  special  power  to  arrest 
persons  without  warrant,  when  taken  in  some  criminal  act. 

1  R.  H.  Whitten,  Public  Administration  in  Massachusetts,  ch.  6. 

2  3  &  4  Wm.  IV,  ch.  40,  §  41. 


PUBLIC  HEALTH  AND  SAFETY  145 

But  the  policemen  of  to-day  perform  many  other  tasks  not 
specifically  included  in  the  above.  They  regulate  street 
traffic,  so  as  to  prevent  blockades  and  permit  foot  passengers 
to  cross  the  streets  in  safety;  they  keep  in  order,  and  within 
proper  limits,  the  crowds  which  gather  at  fires  and  proces- 
sions, and  on  other  occasions ;  they  perform  a  sort  of  ambulance 
work  in  cases  of  street  accidents,  illness,  and  drunkenness ; 
they  pick  up  and  restore  lost  and  runaway  children ;  and  they 
attempt  to  keep  disorderly  women  from  soliciting  on  the 
streets.  The  enumeration  in  the  New  York  charter  of  1897 
will  give  a  general  view  of  the  more  important  duties  now 
undertaken  by  policemen  in  most  large  cities :  — 

It  is  hereby  made  the  duty  of  the  police  department  and  force,  at  all 
times  of  the  day  and  night,  and  the  members  of  such  force  are  hereby 
thereunto  empowered  to  especially  preserve  the  public  peace,  prevent 
crime,  detect  and  arrest  offenders,  suppress  riots,  mobs,  and  insurrections, 
disperse  unlawful  or  dangerous  assemblages,  and  assemblages  which 
obstruct  the  free  passage  of  public  streets,  sidewalks,  parks,  and  places ; 
protect  the  rights  of  persons  and  property,  guard  the  public  health, 
preserve  order  at  elections  and  all  public  meetings  and  assemblages; 
regulate  the  movement  of  teams  and  vehicles  in  streets,  bridges,  squares, 
parks,  and  public  places,  and  remove  all  nuisances  in  the  public  streets, 
parks,  and  public  places,  arrest  all  street  mendicants  and  beggars ;  provide 
proper  police  attendance  at  fires;  assist,  advise,  and  protect  emigrants, 
strangers,  and  travellers  in  public  streets,  at  steamboat  and  ship  landings 
and  at  railroad  stations ;  carefully  observe  and  inspect  all  places  of  public 
amusement,  all  places  of  business  having  excise  or  other  licenses  to  carry 
on  any  business ;  all  houses  of  ill-fame  or  prostitution,  and  houses  where 
common  prostitutes  resort  or  reside ;  all  lottery  offices,  policy  shops,  and 
places  where  lottery  tickets  or  lottery  policies  are  sold  and  offered  for 
sale ;  all  gambling  houses,  cock  pits,  rat  pits,  and  public  common  dance 
houses,  and  to  repress  and  restrain  all  unlawful  or  disorderly  conduct  or 
practices  therein;  enforce  and  prevent  the  violation  of  all  laws  and 
ordinances  in  force  in  said  city;  and  for  these  purposes  to  arrest  all 
persons  guilty  of  violating  any  law  or  ordinance  for  the  suppression 
or  punishment  of  crimes  or  offences. 

Police  action  in  the  directions  thus  far  indicated  is,  gen- 
erally speaking,  similar  in  all  the  leading  countries  of  the 
world.  In  some  matters,  however,  there  are  important  dif- 
ferences, especially  between  the  continental  police  and  the 


146  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

police  in  English-speaking  countries.  Thus,  in  the  coun- 
tries of  continental  Europe,  more  especially  in  France,  the 
police  exercise  a  close  surveillance  over  both  inhabitants  and 
visitors,  keeping  accurate  and  detailed  records  of  the  impor- 
tant facts  as  to  the  family,  life,  occupation,  and  movements 
of  large  numbers  of  persons.  To  make  this  surveillance  as 
complete  as  possible,  the  Paris  policemen  are  located  on  per- 
manent beats,  so  that  each  may  become  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  inhabitants  of  his  district;  at  the  same  time  the 
20, 000  concierges  scattered  throughout  the  city  act  as  a  sys- 
tem of  private  detectives,  being  required  to  report  every  sus- 
picious fact  to  the  police;  and  temporary  lodgers  must  be 
reported  by  all  hotels  and  boarding-houses.  The  information 
collected  from  these  various  sources  for  the  whole  of  France 
is  brought  together  and  collated  at  the  detective  bureau  in 
Paris.  The  criminal  and  suspicious  classes  are  now  the 
especial  subjects  of  this  surveillance,  and  the  information  is 
of  great  value  in  the  detective  work  of  the  police.  In  Berlin 
the  police  compile  the  city  directory  from  these  records. 
But  the  machinery  is  also  available,  and  in  the  past  has  been 
used  for  tracing  out  and  suppressing  political  movements ; 
and  in  this  respect  it  is  a  powerful  and  dangerous  weapon  in 
the  hands  of  the  government. 

In  English-speaking  countries  there  is  no  such  detailed 
police  surveillance.  In  each  city  police  force  there  is  a 
detective  corps  which  keeps  records  of  convicted  criminals, 
and  the  detective  bureau  of  the  London  metropolitan  police 
acts  as  a  central  detective  agency  for  the  entire  kingdom. 
In  the  United  States,  although  the  records  of  one  city  are 
usually  open  to  the  police  officers  of  other  cities,  there  is  no 
official  bureau  or  clearing  house  where  all  the  information 
can  be  brought  together  and  properly  collated.1 

1  There  is  a  bureau  of  identification  at  Chicago,  maintained  by  voluntary 
subscriptions  from  the  principal  cities ;  and  an  effort  is  now  being  made  by 
the  Association  of  the  Chiefs  of  Police  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  to 
have  the  national  government  organize  and  support  an  official  bureau.  Such 
a  national  bureau,  however,  could  not  exercise  any  compulsory  control  over 
municipal  authorities. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND   SAFETY  147 

A  further  duty  of  modern  police  is  the  control  and  limita- 
tion of  vice.  In  the  large  cities  of  continental  Europe  there 
is,  distinct  from  the  patrol  force,  a  body  of  "  morality  police  " 
(police  des  moeurs)  charged  especially  with  this  work.  The 
regulations  generally  include  a  system  of  licensing  houses 
of  ill-fame,  the  medical  examination  of  the  inmates  at  cer- 
tain intervals,  and  the  provision  of  special  hospital  accom- 
modation for  the  treatment  of  venereal  diseases.  A  similar 
system  of  medical  inspection  has  been  in  force  in  Hong 
Kong,  Bombay,  Malta,  New  South  Wales,  and  some  Japan- 
ese ports,  and  was  for  a  time  enforced  by  the  British  govern- 
ment at  certain  army  stations  in  Great  Britain.  This  system 
of  public  regulation  is  defended  by  foreign  writers  on  the 
ground  that  it,  to  some  degree,  lessens  the  physical  evils 
resulting  from  sexual  immorality.  The  regulations  of  some 
cities  have  attempted  to  distinguish  between  measures  for 
sanitary  control  and  the  legal  recognition  of  vice.  Thus, 
the  Hamburg  rules  state  that  registration  simply  means  that 
the  evil  is  tolerated  and  not  that  it  is  allowed,  approved,  or 
authorized.  In  spite  of  drastic  efforts  to  enforce  the  regu- 
lations, at  times  subjecting  innocent  persons  to  most  degrad- 
ing treatment,  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been  possible  in  any 
city  to  prevent  clandestine  and  unregulated  vice  on  a  con- 
siderable scale. 

Under  the  statutes  of  most  English-speaking  countries  the 
duties  of  the  police  in  the  interest  of  public  morality  require 
them  to  suppress  both  houses  of  ill-fame  and  gambling,  and 
frequently,  also,  Sunday  traffic.  In  most  rural  districts  pub- 
lic sentiment  serves  to  enforce  such  laws,  but  in  the  urban 
districts  they  are  generally  violated.  Usually  the  police  do 
not  attempt  to  enforce  the  law  rigidly,  but  establish  extra- 
legal  restrictions ;  and  in  some  Western  cities  in  the  United 
States  there  is  a  well-defined  system  of  monthly  fines,  which, 
in  practice,  operates  as  a  licensing  system.  In  particular 
cases  it  is  freely  charged  that  the  police  are  corrupt  and,  for 
a  due  consideration,  allow  an  almost  unrestrained  violation 
of  the  law. 

The  regulation  and  control  of  the  retail  traffic  in  intoxi- 


148  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

eating  liquor  is  another  police  function.  In  most  countries 
dealers  must  secure  permissive  licenses  before  commencing 
business,  various  restrictions  are  placed  on  the  conduct  of 
the  business,  and  in  the  United  States  heavy  license  fees 
or  taxes  are  imposed.  The  relation  of  the  municipalities  to 
the  system  of  control  varies  widely  in  the  different  countries. 

Most  often  the  granting  of  licenses  is  not  a  municipal 
function.  In  Prussia,  Austria,  Greece,  British  India,  and 
Egypt  licenses  are  granted  by  agents  of  the  central  govern- 
ments ;  in  Belgium  and  Italy,  by  the  provincial  authorities ; 
in  England  and  the  British  colonies,  by  the  justices  of  the 
peace.  In  France  no  license  is  required,  but  each  person 
opening  a  saloon  must  make  a  declaration  of  his  intention  at 
the  office  of  the  maire.  The  municipal  authorities  control 
licenses,  as  a  rule,  in  Holland,  Portugal,  Norway,  Sweden, 
Mexico,  Argentina,  and  Japan. 

In  the  United  States  most  of  the  larger  cities  do  not  con- 
trol the  licensing  of  saloons.  While  the  municipalities  issue 
licenses  in  the  larger  number  of  states,  in  the  most  impor- 
tant urban  states  (New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio),  and  also 
in  Connecticut,  Virginia,  Georgia,  and  Florida,  the  licens- 
ing authority  is  a  county  or  state  officer.  Moreover,  in 
Missouri  and  Massachusetts,  the  large  cities  —  Boston,  St. 
Louis,  and  Kansas  City  —  have  state  license  officers.  In 
several  states,  cities  may,  by  popular  vote,  prohibit  the  retail 
liquor  trade  within  their  limits ;  but  Cambridge  and  Somer- 
ville,  in  Massachusetts,  are  the  only  cities  of  importance 
which  have  permanently  adopted  this  policy. 

The  revenue  from  high  license  fees  or  taxes  on  liquor 
saloons  in  the  United  States  always  goes,  in  large  part,  to 
the  city  treasuries.  In  New  Jersey,  Illinois,  Wisconsin, 
Minnesota,  and  Colorado  the  cities  retain  the  full  amount  of 
the  tax  authorized  by  the  state,  and  also  in  San  Francisco 
and  Washington  the  local  tax  goes  entirely  to  the  municipal 
treasury.  Elsewhere  a  part  of  the  revenue  goes  to  the  county 
or  state  treasury ;  in  New  York  one-third  and  in  Massachu- 
setts one-fourth  of  the  liquor  revenue  falls  to  the  state. 

Enforcement  of  the  special  restrictions  on  the  liquor  trade 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND   SAFETY  149 

is  among  the  duties  of  the  police.  The  failure  of  municipal 
police  to  enforce  the  strict  state  regulations  in  large  cities 
has  been  one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  securing  the 
systems  of  state  police  which  exist  in  the  United  States. 
In  Boston  police  administration  under  the  state  board  seems 
to  be  distinctly  better  than  formerly ;  but  usually  direct  state 
administration  has  produced  only  temporary  improvement; 
while,  when  the  motive  of  the  change  has  been  partisan 
advantage,  the  resulting  administration  has  been  worse  than 
with  municipal  administration.1  In  the  face  of  these  facts 
it  cannot  be  maintained  that  a  system  of  state  police  is  a  sat- 
isfactory permanent  remedy  for  inefficiency  or  corruption  in 
the  municipal  police. 

This  does  not  mean,  however,  that  the  municipal  police 
need  be  left  free  to  neglect  or  ignore  state  laws.  There 
remains  the  system,  already  mentioned,  of  a  state  adminis- 
trative supervision  over  municipal  officials.  Through  this 
system,  indorsed  as  it  is  by  experience  in  other  lines  of  pub- 
lic activity,  it  is  possible  at  the  same  time  to  preserve  local 
autonomy,  to  secure  administrative  efficiency,  and  to  maintain 
the  interests  of  the  state. 

PROTECTION   FROM   FIRE 

The  work  of  the  police  provides  measures  against  public 
dangers  arising  from  the  action  of  human  agents.  There 
are  other  dangers  to  public  security  from  non-human  forces ; 
and  of  these  the  danger  from  fires  is  in  urban  centres  one 
of  the  most  constant  and  the  most  perilous.  The  compact 
nature  of  city  building  makes  easy  the  rapid  spread  of  a  fire 
from  one  edifice  to  another  ;  so  that  a  burning  city  house  is 
not  merely  a  calamity  to  the  owner  and  occupier,  but  also 
an  immediate  threatening  danger  to  the  entire  community 
in  the  neighborhood.  Since  the  danger  is  confined  to  the 
local  community,  the  methods  of  escaping  the  danger  are 
usually,  very  appropriately,  under  municipal  control. 

1  C.  M.  L.  Sites,  Centralized  Administration  of  Liquor  Laws,  especially 
pp.  55,  155. 


150  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

Fire  Insurance 

The  earliest  steps  in  the  development  of  fire  insurance 
were  made  by  public  authorities  in  cities,  and  at  the  present 
time  this  is  a  governmental  function  in  certain  places.  The 
first  form  of  fire  insurance  which  appears  in  the  records  of 
continental  Europe  is  a  law  enacted  by  the  court  of  Flanders 
in  1240,  requiring  damage  by  fire  to  be  made  good  by  the 
whole  locality  in  which  it  occurred.  A  chamber  of  insur- 
ance is  said  to  have  been  opened  at  Bruges  in  1310.  De- 
tails for  the  centuries  immediately  succeeding  are  lacking  ; 
but  by  the  seventeenth  century  Hamburg  and  other  conti- 
nental ports  had  municipal  insurance.1 

After  the  great  fire  of  London  (1666)  the  corporation  of 
the  city  was  looked  upon  as  the  proper  authority  to  organ- 
ize and  conduct  fire  insurance.  In  1660,  when  asked  by  the 
king  to  aid  in  establishing  a  scheme  of  fire  insurance  by 
others,  the  corporation  had  replied  that  such  an  enterprise 
should  be  conducted  by  the  municipality.  But  it\was  not 
until  1681  that  a  definite  plan  was  prepared,  and  a  guar- 
antee fund  of  £>  100,000  constituted.  About  the  same  time, 
however,  a  private  project  was  established  which  waged  war 
on  the  municipal  enterprise  by  lower  rates  and  in  lampoons 
and  broadsides  ;  and  in  November,  1682,  the  city  determined 
to  relinquish  its  undertaking.2 

During  the  eighteenth  century  state  fire  insurance  was 
adopted  in  Saxony,  Silesia,  Brunswick,  Norway,  Hanover, 
and  Wiirttemberg.  At  the  close  of  the  century  a  municipal 
system  was  organized  at  Berlin ;  and  similar  institutions 
under  municipal  control  are  now  to  be  found  in  Hamburg, 
Breslau,  Konigsberg,  Stettin,  and  Liibeck.  Insurance  is 
obligatory  on  all  property  owners,  and  the  premium  is  de- 
pendent directly  on  the  losses.  So,  too,  in  Zurich,  Basel, 
and  other  Swiss  cantons,  the  business  of  fire  insurance  is 
conducted  directly  by  the  cantonal  government. 

A  few  English  municipalities  have  formed  schemes  for 

1  Gomme,  Principles  of  Local  Government,  p.  166. 
8  Contemporary  Review,  LXVIII,  840. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND   SAFETY  151 

insuring  municipal  property  from  their  own  funds.  The 
London  school  board  has  been  its  own  insurance  company 
in  part  since  1878,  and  for  all  its  buildings  since  1885 ;  and 
Glasgow  takes  twenty  per  cent  of  its  own  risks.  But  in  the 
main  fire  insurance  in  English-speaking  countries  is  in  the 
hands  of  private  companies,  under  some  state  control. 

Fire  Brigades 

Probably  no  town  in  any  country  has  reached  even  the 
dimensions  of  a  considerable  village  before  some  measures 
are  taken  to  secure  organized  action  in  cases  of  fire,  such  as 
providing  fire  buckets  and  ladders.  Later,  volunteer  fire 
companies  are  organized,  at  first  entirely  unofficial  in  char- 
acter ;  but  in  time  the  municipality  comes  to  provide  appa- 
ratus, buildings,  and  other  articles  of  equipment,  so  that  the 
volunteer  companies  assume  a  semi-public  character. 

The  early  stages  in  the  development  of  fire  apparatus  pre- 
ceded the  organization  of  municipal  fire  brigades.  In  the 
fifteenth  century  large  water  syringes  were  used  to  force 
water  on  fires,  and  in  the  sixteenth  century  syringes 
mounted  on  wheels  came  into  use.  Hand-pumping  engines 
were  invented  in  the  seventeenth  century,  but  were  not 
employed  in  Paris  until  1705.  Leather  hose  was  invented 
in  Holland  during  the  eighteenth  century,  and  at  the  same 
time  attempts  were  made  to  manufacture  a  serviceable  fabric 
hose. 

In  the  colonial  towns  of  America  the  first  measures  for 
fire  protection  were  the  primitive  requirements  that  house- 
holders should  keep  in  readiness  a  certain  number  of 
ladders  and  buckets,  enacted  first  about  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century.1  The  first  pumping  engine  in  America 
seems  to  have  been  one  ordered  for  Boston  in  1702.  Phila- 
delphia secured  one  in  1718,  and  New  York  in  1731.  These 
were  hand  engines,  with  a  tank  filled  by  buckets  or  station- 
ary pumps ;  and  not  until  about  1820  did  suction  engines 

1  Salem,  1644  ;  Boston,  1654  ;  New  York,  1690  ;  Philadelphia,  1696  ;  Balti- 
more, 1747. 


152  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

appear.  These  early  engines  were  frequently  paid  for  by 
the  municipality,  but  they  were  manned  and  operated  by 
volunteer  companies. 

Paris  took  the  lead  in  the  development  of  an  organized 
fire  brigade.  As  early  as  1716  a  number  of  gardes  pompes, 
to  operate  the  fire  pumps,  were  authorized  ;  but  it  was  not 
until  1811  that  the  permanent  force  of  sapeurs  pompiers  was 
established  and  organized  on  a  military  basis.  After  1830 
brigades  were  established  in  several  other  large  cities  of 
Europe :  at  London  in  1833,  Milan  in  1838,  Madrid  in 
1843,  Berlin  in  1851,  and  Brussels  in  1852.  But  all  of 
these  were  poorly  organized,  with  no  adequate  equipment 
and  but  a  scant  water  supply. 

Experiments  with  steam  fire-engines  became  noticeable 
after  1830.  In  1853  Cincinnati  purchased  one ;  and  as  the 
volunteer  companies  opposed  this  change  in  their  methods, 
a  paid  force,  one  of  the  first  in  the  country,  was  organized. 
Chicago  and  other  Western  cities  at  once  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  Cincinnati,  and  before  long  paid  companies  were 
organized  in  different  cities  throughout  the  United  States. 
Baltimore  adopted  this  method  in  1858,  Boston  in  1860, 
New  York  in  1865,  Detroit  in  1867,  Philadelphia  in  1871, 
and  St.  Paul  in  1881.  About  the  same  time  important 
developments  took  place  in  European  cities.  The  St. 
Petersburg  fire  brigade  was  organized  in  1860,  that  of 
Vienna  in  1864 ;  and  in  1865  the  London  brigade,  which 
had  been  controlled  by  the  insurance  companies,  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Metropolitan  Board  of  Works  as  a  distinctly 
public  force.  In  1878  a  permanent  force  was  established  in 
Glasgow. 

Since  1870  there  has  been  a  steady  extension  of  the  system 
of  paid,  organized,  and  disciplined  fire  brigades  throughout 
the  civilized  countries,  but  most  of  all  in  the  American 
cities.  A  marked  development  in  the  apparatus  and  equip- 
ment has  also  taken  place.  Swinging  harness  to  hasten  the 
hitching  of  the  horses  to  the  fire  wagons  was  first  used  at 
Allegheny  and  Louisville  in  1870.  In  1872  the  first  fire- 
boat  was  built,  for  use  in  Boston  harbor.  Three  years  later 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND   SAFETY  153 

a  similar  boat  was  secured  for  New  York,  and  since  then 
other  cities  located  on  bodies  of  water  have  purchased  fire- 
boats  for  use  on  the  river,  harbor,  or  lake  front.  The  water 
tower  was  invented  in  1876,  and  came  into  use  in  New  York 
in  1880  and  in  Boston  in  1882.  The  fire-alarm  telegraph 
was  introduced  in  1876.  Chemical  engines  were  first  used 
in  Canada  in  1883;  and  in  1886  these  were  introduced  in 
Chicago,  Milwaukee,  Springfield  (O.),  and  Lawrence. 

The  British  towns  have  the  least-developed  fire  brigades. 
Out  of  420  brigades  in  the  British  National  Fire  Brigade 
Union,  only  13  are  entirely  supported  from  public  funds,1 
151  lack  safety  apparatus,  and  234  have  no  steam  fire- 
engines,  while  one  has  an  engine  a  century  old.  Liverpool 
has  but  52  permanent  firemen  and  360  auxiliaries  ;  Man- 
chester has  a  fire  brigade  of  100  men,  Birmingham  61  men, 
and  Leeds  35. 2 

In  the  Latin  countries  the  fire  brigades  are  little  better 
organized  and  equipped  than  those  in  Great  Britain.  Most 
of  the  French  cities  with  over  100,000  population  have  small 
bodies  of  paid  firemen  with  primitive  apparatus ;  but  Rou- 
baix,  and  even  Lyons,  depend  mainly  on  a  force  of  paid  call 
men,  who  receive  300  francs  a  year  each.  The  larger  Italian 
cities  have  a  regular  force  of  paid  firemen;  but  Bologna, 
with  150,000  population,  has  a  system  of  call  men,  paid  only 
for  actual  service  at  fires.  Rotterdam,  Lisbon,  Oporto,  and 
Geneva  still  rely  largely  on  volunteer  companies. 

German  municipalities  have  as  a  rule  larger  and  better- 
equipped  fire  brigades,  as  indicated  by  expenditure  for  their 
maintenance.  Nine  cities  depend  entirely  upon  a  paid  force, 
and  Strassburg  is  the  only  city  of  over  100,000  without  some 
drilled  paid  firemen.  The  Hamburg  department  is  com- 
posed in  part  of  call  men ;  in  Dresden,  volunteer  companies 
are  used  to  some  extent ;  and  in  Munich,  Leipzig,  and 
Cologne  the  volunteer  companies  are  still  the  main  reliance. 

All  of  the  capital  cities  of  Europe  have  paid  and  disciplined 
fire  departments.  Those  at  Paris  and  St.  Petersburg  are  as 

1  Revue  Generate  tf  Administration,  LXV,  84  (1899). 
a  Return,  in  Parliamentary  Papers,  1899,  vol.  83. 


154  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

large  and  as  well  equipped  as  the  Berlin  brigade.  In  Brus- 
sels and  Amsterdam  the  brigades  correspond  closely  in 
strength  and  equipment  to  those  of  German  cities  of  the  same 
population.  Vienna  and  Madrid  have  less  efficient  organiza- 
tions than  Brussels  or  Paris,  though  better  than  those  in  the 
chief  Italian  cities.  There  are  also  paid  departments  at  Ant- 
werp, Ghent,  Copenhagen,  Stockholm,  Christiania,  Prague, 
Trieste,  Warsaw,  Riga;  and  in  general  cities  in  Teutonic 
lands  are  as  well  protected  as  those  in  Germany  itself. 

The  greatest  development  of  municipal  fire  brigades  is 
found  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States.  In  organization, 
in  apparatus,  in  efficiency,  and  also  in  expense,  the  American 
fire  departments  are  far  beyond  those  of  any  other  country. 
The  widest  variations  in  organization  and  equipment  neces- 
sarily exist.  For  cities  with  less  than  8000  population  vol- 
unteer companies  are  almost  universal.  In  cities  with  a 
population  between  8000  and  30,000,  the  prevalent  system  is 
a  small  number  of  men  employed  constantly,  with  a  large 
number  of  call  men;  but  there  are  still  cities  of  this  size 
with  volunteer  companies  only,  and  there  are  also  a  number 
(84)  whose  entire  force  are  regular  full-time  men.  In  cities 
with  over  30,000  population,  volunteer  companies  are  only 
occasionally  (in  10  cases  out  of  129)  found  to  be  an  impor- 
tant element.  In  the  states  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  most 
cities  with  more  than  30,000  inhabitants  have  the  entire  fire 
brigade  composed  of  regular  firemen ;  but  in  the  Eastern 
cities  having  a  population  less  than  100,000  call  men,  as 
a  general  rule,  form  an  important  part  of  the  forces.  Only 
7  of  129  cities  with  over  30,000  population  have  no  steam 
fire-engines ;  and  in  all  these  cities  the  water- works  are  oper- 
ated on  the  Holly  system,  whereby  the  pumps  of  the  water- 
works furnish  sufficient  pressure  for  the  use  of  firemen. 

In  the  38  cities  of  over  100,000  population,  only  Scranton, 
Penn.,  depends  mainly  on  volunteers,  while  only  San  Fran- 
cisco, Worcester,  and  Fall  River  have  a  considerable  body 
of  call  men.  Elsewhere  in  this  class  the  permanent  trained 
firemen  are  the  main  part  of  the  brigade,  and  in  most  cases 
there  are  no  other  elements  whatever. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND   SAFETY  155 

The  New  York  city  fire  brigade,  with  2400  regular  fire- 
men, 1000  horses,  195  fire-engines,  6  fire-boats,  129  hook  and 
ladder  trucks,  and  400,000  feet  of  hose,  is  by  far  the  largest 
force  of  any  city  in  the  world ;  but  the  Boston  department, 
consisting  of  730  men,  350  horses,  50  engines,  and  21  hook 
and  ladder  trucks,  is  the  strongest  force  in  the  world  in 
proportion  to  population  of  the  city.  The  Boston  organiza- 
tion is  fully  as  strong  as  that  of  Philadelphia,  a  city  of  more 
than  twice  its  size.  In  proportion  to  population,  the  forces 
of  New  York  and  Chicago  are  stronger  than  those  of  Phila- 
delphia and  Baltimore,  but  less  strong  than  that  of  St.  Louis, 
and  below  the  average  strength.  As  a  general  rule,  the 
smaller  cities  have  a  proportionately  stronger  force.  Cities 
with  unusually  efficient  fire  departments  are  :  Buffalo,  Pitts- 
burg,  Detroit,  Albany,  Atlanta,  Grand  Rapids,  Minneapolis, 
St.  Paul,  and  Columbus.  Baltimore,  St.  Joseph,  Scranton, 
Reading,  and  Wilmington  have  weak  fire  brigades. 

The  brigade  of  Chicago  has  as  many  men  and  twice  as 
many  horses  as  that  of  London,  a  city  three  times  the  size  of 
the  American  city,  and  has  98  steam  engines  and  4  hand 
engines,  as  compared  with  60  steam  and  25  hand  engines  in 
the  British  metropolis.  Berlin,  with  fifty  per  cent  more 
population  than  Philadelphia,  has  a  force  of  men  but  a  little 
larger,1  only  one-fifth  as  many  steam  fire-engines,  and  as  a 
counter-claim  only  18  hand  engines.  Paris  has  as  many 
firemen  in  proportion  to  population  as  Philadelphia,  but  only 
17  steam  fire-engines  and  90  hand  engines  as  compared  with 
46  steam  engines  in  Philadelphia. 

American  fire  departments  composed  of  regular  men  are 
organized  into  engine  companies  and  hook  and  ladder  com- 
panies, usually  consisting  of  not  more  than  twelve  men  each. 
Certain  companies  (generally  three  engines  and  one  hook  and 
ladder  truck)  respond  to  a  first  alarm,  and  additional  com- 
panies are  called  out  by  subsequent  alarms  if  necessary.  The 
foreman  or  captain  of  each  company  is  responsible  for  the 
discipline  of  the  men  and  the  care  of  the  apparatus,  and  is 

i  Berlin,  833  ;  Philadelphia,  764. 


156  MUNICIPAL   ACTIVITIES 

required  to  investigate  the  enforcement  of  laws  for  the  pre- 
vention of  fires  within  the  company  district. 

In  the  larger  cities  the  fire  companies  are  grouped  into 
battalions,  each  of  which  has  a  battalion  chief,  who  takes  com- 
mand of  the  companies  called  out  to  fires  of  ordinary  size. 
The  battalions  are  grouped  into  larger  sections,  each  under  a 
deputy  chief,  who  directs  the  force  at  more  important  fires ; 
while  the  chief  of  the  department  has  general  control  over 
the  management  and  discipline  of  the  entire  uniformed  force, 
and  takes  command  in  very  serious  conflagrations.  He  in 
turn  is  responsible  to  a  civil  commissioner,  a  board,  or  a  coun- 
cil committee.  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Boston  have 
single  commissioners ;  Cincinnati,  Detroit,  St.  Paul,  have 
boards  ;  the  fire  chief  of  Chicago  has  complete  control  under 
the  mayor  and  council. 

The  control  of  the  fire  department  is  in  almost  every  coun- 
try a  municipal  matter,  and  only  in  France  is  there  even  any 
intensive  control  over  the  municipal  authorities  in  this  field. 
There  the  corps  of  sapeurs  pompiers  is  attached  to  the  minis- 
try of  the  interior,  the  organization  for  each  town  is  deter- 
mined by  the  prefects,  and  the  chief  officers  are  appointed  by 
the  president  of  the  republic  on  the  nomination  of  the  pre- 
fects. The  men  are  recruited  for  five  years  and  subjected  to 
military  discipline.  The  municipalities  are,  however,  respon- 
sible for  the  maintenance  of  the  force.  At  Paris  the  regi- 
ment of  sapeurs  pompiers  acts  under  the  appointed  prefect  of 
police,  but  is  an  integral  part  of  the  regular  army  under  the 
minister  of  war  as  regards  its  organization  and  discipline. 
In  a  few  other  large  cities  —  Berlin,  Brunswick,  Buenos  Ayres, 
and  Denver  —  the  fire  department  is  likewise  under  the  cen- 
tral government.  At  Sydney,  Melbourne,  and  Adelaide  there 
are  metropolitan  fire  districts  including  the  territory  of  these 
cities  and  their  suburbs,  and  the  central  governments  as  well 
as  the  various  local  authorities  are  represented  on  the  fire 
commission. 

Elsewhere  municipal  control  of  fire  brigades  is  the  almost 
universal  rule.  In  Great  Britain  even  the  London  brigade  is 
under  local  direction,  the  County  Council  being  the  authority. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND   SAFETY  157 

In  the  United  States  the  only  exceptions  are  in  Denver,  Col., 
where  the  state-appointed  police  board  also  directs  the  fire 
brigade,  and  in  San  Francisco,  where  the  fire-boats  are  owned 
by  the  state. 

HEALTH   DEPARTMENT 

The  preservation  of  the  public  health  has  been  the  subject 
of  public  action  for  centuries,  and  special  organs  for  protect- 
ing public  health  —  boards  of  health  —  were  created  several 
decades  before  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century;  but 
the  recent  development  of  medical  and  sanitary  science  has 
so  altered  {.lie  scope  of  public  activity  that  the  present  system 
as  it  exists  in  the  most  advanced  cities  is  distinctly  and 
emphatically  new. 

Not  to  go  further  back,  we  may  note  that  as  early  as  the 
fourteenth  century  the  Italian  cities  established  quarantine 
measures  for  preventing  the  introduction  of  the  plague.1 
Similar  measures  were  adopted  in  other  countries ;  and  at 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  were  special 
provincial  sanitary  authorities  in  various  parts  of  Italy  and 
Germany.  In  1802  a  board  of  health  (conseil  de  salubrit£), 
consisting  of  four  salaried  members,  was  established  in 
Paris.2  Between  1822  and  1832  similar  boards  were  pro- 
vided in  the  most  important  French  towns  :  Lyons,  Mar- 
seilles, Lille,  Nantes,  Troyes,  Rouen,  Bordeaux,  Toulouse, 
and  Versailles.  In  England  the  local  improvement  boards 
had  some  power  to  remove  nuisances  and  unsanitary  con- 
ditions; and  in  the  United  States  local  boards  of  health  had 
been  established  in  some  cities  —  in  New  York  (1805), 
Philadelphia  (1818),  and  Chicago  (1837).  In  no  case, 
however,  does  there  seem  to  have  been  any  active  or  sys- 
tematic work  undertaken  by  such  boards  except  during  the 
presence  of  an  epidemic  of  cholera  or  smallpox. 

In  1847  Liverpool,  under  an  act  passed  the  previous  year, 
appointed  the  first  medical  officer  of  health,  the  incumbent 

1  Les  Institutions  Sanitaires  en  Italic,  p.  6. 

•  Leroy-Beaulieu,  U administration  locale,  p.  260. 


158  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

being  Dr.  William  Henry  Duncan.  The  next  year  the  city 
corporation  of  London  appointed  a  medical  officer  of  health 
(Dr.  J.  Simon),  who  gradually  developed  a  methodical  sani- 
tary inspection  of  all  the  poorer  parts  of  the  city,  resulting  in 
periodical  house-cleaning,  street  scavenging,  general  mitiga- 
tion of  nuisances,  and  the  introduction  of  drainage  and  water 
supply.1 

The  cholera  epidemic  which  ravaged  Europe  at  this  time 
(and  reached  America  the  next  year)  led  to  further  sanitary 
legislation.  In  1848  the  Italian  kingdom  of  Piedmont, 
France,  and  England  all  enacted  laws  providing  for  special 
health  authorities.  In  the  two  first-named  countries  pro- 
vincial or  departmental  boards  were  created,  but  no  general 
measure  was  adopted  in  regard  to  municipal  health  officials. 
The  English  statute,  however,  besides  creating  a  General 
Board  of  Health,  authorized  that  central  board  to  establish 
local  boards  wherever  in  their  judgment  the  sanitary  con- 
ditions required  special  action.  Provision  was  also  made 
for  extending  the  system  of  paid  medical  officers  of  health, 
such  as  had  been  provided  in  Liverpool  and  in  the  city  of 
London.  Progress  was  slow  for  some  time,  and  even  as 
late  as  1872  only  twenty-five  urban  authorities  in  England 
had  provided  a  medical  officer  of  health,  and  in  only  twenty- 
one  urban  districts  were  there  sanitary  inspectors. 

However,  the  legislation  of  1871,  establishing  the  Local 
Government  Board  with  increased  powers,  led  to  more  active 
measures ;  and  by  the  end  of  a  decade  448  medical  officers 
of  health  were  reported,  thirty  of  whom  covered  more  than 
one  urban  district,  so  that  in  all  536  urban  districts  were 
represented.2  Since  then  the  number  of  medical  officers  of 
health  has  steadily  increased,  until  now  practically  every 
urban  district  has  one.  In  this  later  period,  however,  the 
more  significant  facts  have  been  the  increased  activity  of 
these  officials  and  the  growth  of  their  subordinate  staff. 

In  London  the  public  health  is  looked  after  both  by  the 
County  Council  and  by  the  borough  authorities.  Each  dis- 

1  Simon,  English  Sanitary  Institutions,  p.  245. 

2  Reports  of  Local  Government  Board. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND   SAFETY  159 

trict  or  municipal  borough  has  a  medical  officer  of  health, 
with  a  corps  of  sanitary  inspectors,  who  inspect  houses,  sup- 
press and  prevent  nuisances,  and  enforce  laws  in  regard  to 
infectious  diseases  and  overcrowded  or  unsanitary  houses. 
Some  boroughs  also  have  a  public  analyst  to  detect  adultera- 
tions in  food  and  drugs.  The  health  office  for  the  admin- 
istrative county  of  London  was  established  in  1889,  and 
exercises  four  distinct  functions :  that  of  court  of  appeals  ; 
inspector  of  food  supply ;  supervisor  of  lodging-houses, 
and  inspector  of  infectious  diseases.  Householders  may 
appeal  to  it  in  its  first  capacity  when  borough  authorities 
fail  to  remedy  unsanitary  conditions.  The  duty  of  the 
County  officer  is  to  investigate  such  complaints  of  house- 
holders, and  to  communicate  with  the  delinquent  local 
official  when  necessary.  As  an  inspector  of  food  supplies, 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  County  Council  to  license  the  private 
slaughter-houses  (now  numbering  429)  and  to  deputize  offi- 
cers to  inspect  them.  Cow  sheds,  dairies,  and  milk  shops 
are  also  licensed,  and  all  milk  sellers  must  be  registered.  A 
staff  of  eight  inspectors  is  employed  to  inspect  the  sanitary 
condition  of  these  places.  In  1895  the  supervision  of  the 
common  lodging-houses  was  transferred  from  the  police  to 
the  County  Council.  Such  houses  must  be  registered  and 
approved  by  one  of  the  eleven  inspectors  in  this  department 
of  the  Council.  As  an  inspector  of  infectious  diseases,  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  County  Council  is  limited  to  diseases 
which  have  spread  over  more  than  one  district.1  The  hos- 
pitals for  infectious  diseases  are  managed  by  the  metropoli- 
tan asylums  board.  The  collection  of  vital  statistics  is 
made  by  the  poor  law  guardians  under  the  direction  of  the 
registrar-general — an  official  of  the  central  government. 

In  Glasgow  a  medical  officer  of  health  was  first  appointed  in 
1862,  and  eight  years  later  a  sanitary  inspector  with  a  sub- 
ordinate staff  of  forty-five  officers  was  provided.  This  force 
was  divided  into  squads  for  the  inspection  of  lodging-houses, 
the  investigation  of  infectious  diseases,  and  the  suppres- 
sion of  nuisances.  Special  fever  hospitals  were  also  pro- 

1  The  London  Manual,  1899-1900,  pp.  162,  163. 


160 


MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 


vided  at  this  time.  The  Act  of  1890  gave  much  additional 
authority  to  the  health  department,  and  its  staff  was  largely 
increased.  Under  the  present  system  there  are  three  divi- 
sions :  one  for  sanitary  inspection,  a  second  for  disease  inspec- 
tion, and  a  third  for  disease  treatment.  Twenty-two  of  the 
150  sanitary  inspectors  made,  in  1895,  324,571  inspections 
and  discovered  32,292  nuisances;  eight  lodging-house  and 
"  ticketed -house  "  l  inspectors,  enforcing  the  sanitary  rules 
for  lodging-houses  charging  less  than  sixpence  per  night, 
inspected  79  such  houses  with  accommodations  for  9372 
persons.  The  regulations  require  400  cubic  feet  of  air  for 
each  adult,  daily  sweeping  and  airing,  periodic  cleansing, 
and  water-closet  facilities.  In  1895  the  number  of  sleepers 
was  limited  in  25,000  ticketed  houses.  In  all  35,000  house 
inspections  were  made,  and  3868  cases  of  overcrowding 
reported.  Cases  were  reported  where  only  76  cubic  feet  of 
air  (i.e.  a  bunk  3x6x4.25  feet)  was  provided  for  each 
sleeper.  The  inspectors  also  investigate  uninhabitable  houses, 
test  drains,  and  inspect  shop  hours  and  food  supplies.  There 
were  four  inspectors  of  bakehouses,  dairies,  and  vegetable, 
fruit,  and  fish  markets ;  three  meat  inspectors ;  and  one 
analyst  of  food  and  drugs.  It  is  the  duty  of  inspectors  for 
disease  prevention  to  isolate  patients  in  houses  or  hospitals, 
to  disinfect  places  exposed  to  contagious  or  infectious  dis- 
eases, to  maintain  sanitary  wash-houses,2  and  to  vaccinate. 
For  the  treatment  of  diseases  there  are  fever  hospitals  with 
accommodations  for  980  patients.3  The  following  table 
gives  Glasgow  annual  death  rates  per  thousand  population 
for  four  decades,  showing  the  improvement  since  the  health 
department  has  been  at  work  :  — 


Decade 

Zymotics 

Phthisis 

Other  Lung 
Diseases 

Other  Causes 

All  Causes 

1855-1864 

7.8 

3.9 

5.2 

13.1 

30.0 

1865-1874 

7.4 

3.9 

6.5 

12.7 

30.5 

1875-1884 

5.1 

3.4 

6.3 

12.1 

26.9 

1885-1894 

3.8 

2.5 

5.3 

11.6 

23.2 

1  A  ticketed  house  is  a  three-room  house  with  less  than  2000  cubic  feet 
of  air,  which  is  marked  for  periodic  inspection  to  prevent  overcrowding. 
a  The  first  sanitary  wash-house  was  established  in  1864. 
*  Bell  and  Paton,  Municipal  Glasgow,  chs.  18-20. 


PUBLIC  HEALTH  AND  SAFETY 


161 


The  Birmingham  health  department  was  reorganized  in 
1875.  A  medical  officer  of  health  was  appointed,  and  the 
staff  of  inspectors  was  increased  in  number.  The  work  of 
the  department  includes  the  inspection  of  houses  and  food, 
disinfection,  and  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  epi- 
demic hospitals.  From  20,000  to  30,000  nuisances  a  year 
have  been  abated,  and  3000  wells  have  been  condemned.1 

An  important  part  of  the  municipal  health  activity  of 
English  towns  is  the  inspection  and  analysis  of  food  to 
detect  adulteration.  The  development  of  the  middleman  in 
modern  trading  seems  to  have  greatly  increased  the  amount 
of  adulteration,  and  agitation  on  the  subject  in  England  led 
in  1860  to  the  passage  of  an  act  authorizing  local  boards  to 
appoint  analysts.  An  act  of  1872  made  the  appointment 
of  analysts  obligatory,  and  also  provided  for  inspectors. 
Another  parliamentary  investigation  led  to  the  Foods  and 
Drugs  Adulterations  Act  of  1875,  which,  with  some  amend- 
ments, is  the  present  law.2  Besides  the  analysts  for  the 
various  district  boards  in  the  metropolis,  about  140  boroughs 
have  analysts  (including  all  the  county  boroughs).  In 
other  urban  districts  the  county  analysts  are  relied  upon. 
The  total  number  of  analyses  made  in  England  by  both 
municipal  and  county  analysts  was  17,049  in  1879,  26,594  in 
1889,  and  46,000  in  1897.3  The  following  table  gives  de- 
tails of  the  analyses  of  food  and  drugs  in  1897  :  — 


Locality 

Samples  examined 

Samples  adulterated 

Per  Cent 
adulterated 

Metropolis 

11120 

1274 

11.5 

Liverpool 

1172 

178 

15.2 

Manchester 

1703 

49 

2.9 

Birmingham 

1145 

279 

24.3 

Leeds 

238 

28 

11.3 

Sheffield 

223 

23 

10.3 

Bristol 

297 

18 

6.1 

Salford 

824 

51 

6.2 

Bradford 

264 

24 

9.1 

Cardiff 

594 

23 

3.9 

Swansea 

300 

26 

8.7 

1  Shaw,  Municipal  Government  in  Great  Britain,  p.  185. 

2  Reference  Handbook  of  Medical  Science,  III,  205. 
8  Local  Government  Board  Reports. 


162 


MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 


In  all  England,  18,896  samples  of  milk  were  examined, 
and  10.4  per  cent  found  to  be  adulterated.  Of  the  4700 
samples  examined  in  the  Metropolis,  14.6  per  cent  were 
found  to  be  adulterated.  In  1892  the  percentage  of  adulter- 
ated milk  in  London  was  22.5  per  cent.  Coffee,  spirits, 
butter,  sugar,  and  drugs  are  the  other  articles  most  fre- 
quently adulterated;  less  frequently,  but  still  adulterated 
to  a  considerable  extent,  are  mustard,  pepper,  lard,  confec- 
tionery, canned  peas,  and  cocoa. 

In  France  the  hospitals  for  contagious  diseases  are  con- 
ducted as  a  part  of  the  general  hospital  system,  and  not  by 
the  sanitary  bureau.  Such  bureaus  are  not  so  common  as 
the  medical  officers  of  health  in  England,  but  they  are  to 
be  found  in  the  principal  cities.  The  following  table  l  shows 
the  number  of  officers  de  sant£  in  France  in  1896  :  — 

Paris 62 

12  towns  with  over  100,000  population          ......  82 

47  towns  with  population  between  30,000  and  100,000  ....  46 

56  towns  with  population  between  20,000  and  30,000   ....  37 

134  towns  with  population  between  10,000  and  20,000  27 

Total  in  cities 253 

Communes 1352 

Grand  total 1605 

For  twenty  years  the  number  has  been  steadily  decreasing, 
as  the  following  table l  will  show  :  — 


Tear 

Number  of  (Meiers 
de,  Sante 

Year 

Number  of  Officiers 
de  Sante 

1876 

3633 

1891 

2512 

1881 

3209 

1896 

1605 

1886 

2794 

Paris,  Havre,  Dijon,  St.  Etienne,  Nantes,  and  Troyes  have 
well-organized  systems  of  food  inspection  and  analyses.2 
Havre,  Rheims,  St.  Etienne,  Nancy,  and  Nice  have  disinfec- 


1  Annuaire  Statistique,  1897,  p.  511. 

2  Encyclopedic  #  Hygiene,  VII,  806. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND   SAFETY  163 

tion  bureaus  in  addition  to  the  hospital  facilities.1  A  cen- 
tral health  department  was  established  at  Nancy  in  1879, 
at  Havre  in  1879,  at  Rheims  in  1882,  at  St.  Etienne  in  1883, 
at  Amiens  in  1884,  at  Pau  in  1885,  at  Nice  in  1887,  and  at 
Toulouse  in  1889.  The  department  consists  of  various  offi- 
cials, such  as  inspectors  of  unsanitary  lodging-houses,  vacci- 
nators,  medical  school  inspectors,  veterinary  surgeons  for 
the  supervision  of  abattoirs  and  markets,  and  analytical 
chemists  for  testing  foods.2 

The  Paris  Conseil  d?  Hygiene  et  de  la  SalubritS  (board  of 
health)  dates  from  1802.  The  prefect  of  police  is  president 
of  the  body ;  the  other  ex  officio  members,  together  with 
twenty-four  life  members,  are  specially  appointed.  It  is  an 
advisory  board,  meeting  twice  a  month.  Each  arrondisse- 
ment  has  a  health  board,  consisting  of  the  maire  and  nine 
members,  which  is  also  an  inquiry  and  advisory  board.  As 
an  auxiliary  body,  the  sanitary  bureau  in  the  prefecture  of 
police  supervises  the  active  administration  of  the  health 
laws. 

There  is  a  highly  developed  system  of  meat  inspection  in 
Paris.  In  1825  there  were  three  inspectors  of  meat,  but 
the  number  has  been  increased  from  time  to  time.  In  1830 
there  were  six  meat  inspectors,  in  1855  fifteen,  in  1879 
(when  the  service  was  reorganized  and  enlarged)  fifty- 
seven,  in  1890  seventy.  These  inspectors  make  their 
examinations  at  the  abattoirs,  at  the  Holies  Centrales  lo- 
cated at  the  city  gates,  and  at  the  retail  markets  throughout 
the  city.8  The  Paris  municipal  laboratory  began  active 
operations  in  1881,  replacing  scientific  tests  for  the  former 
dSgustateurs  (tasters  and  smellers).  In  1883  the  laboratory 
force  comprised  one  chief,  one  assistant,  two  principal  chem- 
ists, twenty-three  chemists,  twenty-four  expert  inspectors,  and 
a  clerical  force.  The  chemists  and  inspectors  are  selected  by 
means  of  technical  examinations.  In  addition  to  the  analyses 
made  of  samples  chosen  by  the  inspectors,  private  citizens  may 

1  Encyclopedic  d' Hygiene,  IV,  801. 

2  Block,  Dictionnaire  de  V Administration  franqaise,  p.  1293. 
8  Encyclopedic  d"1  Hygiene,  VII,  806. 


164  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

submit  samples  (received  and  forwarded  to  the  labo  ratory  by 
the  commissaries  of  police)  on  which  a  qualitative  analysis  and 
a  report  is  made  without  charge,  and  a  quantitative  analysis 
upon  payment  of  certain  fees.1  The  substances  most  fre- 
quently analyzed  are  wine,  beer,  cider,  milk,  butter,  coffee, 
chocolate,  and  vinegar.  In  1881,  when  the  first  analyses 
were  made  in  the  laboratory,  fifty  per  cent  of  the  milk 
samples  were  adulterated.  In  1891  the  percentage  of  adul- 
terated samples  was  only  ten  per  cent.2  The  laboratory  also 
makes  water  analyses,  and  furnishes  scientific  aid  to  the 
work  of  disinfection,  and  suggests  improvements  in  the 
methods  of  sewage  disposal  and  treatment. 

The  disinfection  service  in  France  has  rapidly  developed 
since  1884,  both  in  the  purification  of  infected  houses  and  in 
the  establishment  of  disinfecting  stations  for  clothing  and 
bedding.  The  epidemic  hospitals  are  under  the  control  of 
the  charity  administration.3 

In  Germany  health  regulations  date  from  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  central  health  authorities  were  established  as  early  as  the 
seventeenth  century.  In  1835  a  Prussian  law  authorized  the 
establishment  of  a  board  of  health  (Sanitatskommissiori)  in 
each  city  of  over  5000  population.  The  present  laws  on  the 
adulteration  of  food  and  drugs  date  from  1872,  and  vaccina- 
tion is  required  by  an  imperial  law  of  1874.  There  is  now 
a  hierarchy  of  health  boards  in  the  circles,  districts,  prov- 
inces, and  the  central  government,  with  advisory  powers.4 
The  active  administration  is  in  the  hands  of  the  police 
authorities,  which  have  special  bureaus  for  health  work  in 
the  larger  cities. 

The  most  complete  and  efficient  health  departments  in 
Germany  are  in  Berlin  and  Hamburg.  The  Berlin  G-esund- 
heitsamt,  an  imperial  institution,  was  established  in  1870. 
The  especial  features  of  the  existing  system  are:  meat  in- 
spection at  the  public  abattoirs;  the  disinfection  bureau, 
established  in  1886,  with  a  staff  of  79  persons,  and  stations 

1  Block,  Administration  de  Paris,  pp.  621  ff. 

2  Shaw,  Continental  Europe,  p.  101.  s  Ibid.,  p.  94. 

4  Stengel,  Worterbuch  des  Deutschen  Verwaltungsrecht,  II,  91. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND  SAFETY  165 

throughout  the  city  ;  and  the  recently  installed  bacterio- 
logical laboratory.  The  Hamburg  service  has  been  greatly 
extended  and  improved  since  the  cholera  epidemic  of  1892. 
The  staff  in  the  disinfection  bureau,  consisting  of  65  persons, 
is  almost  as  large  as  that  of  Berlin.  The  sanitary  regulations 
require  the  cleaning  of  beer  houses  and  drinking  dishes. 
Food  and  water  inspection  and  a  bacteriological  laboratory 
also  constitute  a  part  of  the  Hamburg  system;  while  the 
harbor  sanitary  police,  for  the  inspection  of  vessels  in  port, 
is  an  additional  service  of  importance.  Elsewhere  there  are 
correspondingly  efficient  systems  of  food  and  water  inspec- 
tion. In  all  Germany,  in  1878,  there  were  231,478  analyses 
made,  and  3352  convictions  for  violations  of  the  health 
laws.1  Disinfection  bureaus  are  found  in  most  of  the  large 
cities;  but  only  a  few  have  a  large  staff  in  this  service. 
Cologne  has  a  force  of  66  men,  Weisbaden,  19,  Charlotten- 
berg,  18,  and  Bremen,  11. 

In  the  United  States  most  of  the  large  cities  had  boards  of 
health  and  health  officers  by  1850,  but  before  this  date  there 
was  almost  no  permanent  force,  or  constant  service.  The 
only  diseases  which  as  a  general  rule  prompted  action  by 
municipal  authorities  or  local  boards  of  health  were  cholera 
and  smallpox,  and  in  general,  too,  no  action  was  taken  even 
in  respect  to  these  until  the  pestilence  was  at  hand.  When 
cholera  threatened  a  city,  the  authorities  took  precautions 
and  established  sanitary  regulations,  but  with  the  abatement 
of  the  alarm  the  enforcement  of  the  regulations  was  relaxed. 
In  the  case  of  smallpox,  action  was  taken  only  after  the 
disease  had  made  its  appearance.  Even  in  1860  New  York, 
where  there  was  a  small  number  of  street  inspectors  and  food 
inspectors,  furnishes  the  only  example  of  a  permanent  force. 

The  modern  system  of  sanitary  inspection  had  its  begin- 
ning in  the  Metropolitan  Board  of  Health  (a  state  commis- 
sion) established  in  1866  for  New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  the 
vicinity.  This  board  entirely  reorganized  the  service  there, 
and  the  work  has  since  1870  been  carried  on  by  municipal 
boards.  In  1867  the  Chicago  Municipal  Board  of  Health 

1  Reference  Handbook  of  Medical  Sciences,  III,  205. 


166  MUNICIPAL   ACTIVITIES 

reorganized  its  service  after  the  plan  of  the  New  York  sys- 
tem, and  a  sanitary  superintendent  and  a  force  of  twenty- 
six  inspectors  were  appointed.1  In  1872  the  Boston  Board  of 
Health  was  reorganized,  and  began  its  new  work  with  small- 
pox vaccination  and  the  inspection  of  meat  and  fish,  but  with- 
out any  body  of  inspectors.  In  addition  to  New  York  and 
Chicago,  the  only  American  city  which  had  any  force  of 
inspectors  in  1873  was  New  Orleans,  where  there  were 
twelve.  The  health  officer  of  Baltimore  had  four  assistants, 
St.  Louis  two,  and  Cleveland  one.2 

At  the  present  time  nearly  every  city  of  over  10,000  popu- 
lation has  a  board  of  health  or  health  officer  appointed  by  the 
municipal  authorities  ;  while  most  cities  of  over  200,000  popu- 
lation have  a  considerable  body  of  sanitary  inspectors  and 
trained  assistants.  The  duties  required  of  the  health  depart- 
ment are  of  three  general  classes :  1,  precautionary  or  pre- 
ventive steps  ;  2,  the  management  and  control  of  infectious 
diseases ;  and  3,  the  collection  of  vital  statistics. 

Precautionary  Action 

Local  Nuisances.  —  Among  the  principal  and  almost  uni- 
versal duties  of  local  boards  of  health  are  the  inspection 
and  abatement  of  unsanitary  conditions  liable  to  prove  detri- 
mental to  the  health,  comfort,  and  convenience  of  citizens. 
To  perform  these  duties  the  local  boards  usually  possess  arbi- 
trary and  summary  powers,  which  have  been  upheld  by  the 
courts.  "  Their  action  is  intended  to  be  prompt  and  sum- 
mary. They  are  clothed  with  extraordinary  powers  for  the 
protection  of  the  community  from  noxious  influences  affect- 
ing life  and  health,  and  it  is  important  that  their  proceedings 
should  be  delayed  as  little  as  possible.  Delay  might  defeat 
all  beneficial  results ;  and  the  necessity  of  the  case  and  the  im- 
portance of  public  interests  at  stake  justify  prompt  action."3 

This  general  authority  to  suppress  nuisances  has  developed 
to  a  marked  degree  along  certain  specific  lines.  It  generally 
includes  a  special  supervision  over  the  removal  of  garbage 

1  Report  of  Chicago  Board  of  Health,  1867-1869,  p.  121. 

2  Reports  of  American  Public  Health  Association,  I,  506. 

8  Opinion  of  a  supreme  court  judge,  quoted  in  Abbott,  Public  Hygiene,  p.  48. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH   AND   SAFETY  167 

and  waste  (including  street  cleaning).  In  some  cities,  where 
this  work  is  undertaken  by  the  municipality,  it  is  performed 
by  subordinates  of  the  health  department;  but  when  per- 
formed by  another  city  department,  or  by  householders,  the 
work  is  subject  to  the  control  of  the  health  authorities. 
Another  special  line  of  control  is  that  exercised  over  plumb- 
ing and  house  drainage,  secured  not  only  by  regulations  to 
be  followed  in  building  construction,  but  by  the  examination 
and  licensing  of  plumbers.  A  further  field  of  control  is  that 
over  smoke.  New  York  city  prohibits  the  use  of  soft  coal 
within  its  limits ;  other  cities  (e.^.  Chicago  and  Cincinnati) 
require  the  use  of  "  smoke  consumers."  Recently  regulations 
forbidding  spitting  in  public  places  have  been  enforced,  to 
aid  in  preventing  the  spread  of  tuberculosis.  Most  cities  of 
over  30,000  population  have  a  staff  of  sanitary  inspectors  for 
these  duties,  and  in  cities  of  over  200,000  there  is  usually  a 
considerable  force.  New  York  has  353  inspectors  ;  Chicago, 
40  ;  Philadelphia,  44 ;  St.  Louis,  35  ;  Boston,  19 ;  Baltimore, 
12 ;  Cleveland,  26,  and  Cincinnati,  25.  Cities  more  poorly 
equipped  are  Buffalo,  with  5  inspectors;  Milwaukee,  with 
8 ;  Jersey  City,  with  6  ;  and  Louisville,  with  3.  A  few  cities 
with  less  than  200,000  population  have  an  adequate  service : 
Kansas  City  has  10  inspectors,  Denver  has  12,  Memphis  has 
13,  and  Grand  Rapids  has  9.1 

In  New  York  city  the  sanitary  inspection  covers  the 
inspection  of  offensive  trades,  all  public  places,  dwellings 
(with  especial  reference  to  drainage),  removal  of  garbage, 
and  the  supply  of  water,  light,  air,  and  heat.  In  1898  the 
force  of  sanitary  inspectors  made  158,045  inspections,  and 
the  sanitary  police,  336,820.  Complaints  were  made  by  pri- 
vate citizens  to  the  number  of  33,439,  of  which  55  per  cent 
were  found  warranted.  Including  the  nuisances  reported 
on  the  regular  inspections,  the  total  number  of  official  com- 
plaints was  47,273,  of  which  31,587  were  made  by  the  sani- 
tary inspectors,  and  15,686  by  the  sanitary  police.  This 
work  included  also  the  removal  of  dead  animals,  and  during 
"the  year  78,057  cats  and  dogs  were  removed,  and  12,870 

1  Statistics  of  Cities :  Bulletin  of  Department  of  Labor,  September,  1900. 


168 


MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 


horses.  In  Boston  11,271  horses,  and  in  St.  Paul  315  dead 
animals  of  all  kinds,  were  removed.  In  Cincinnati  8702  nui- 
sances were  reported ;  in  St.  Paul,  14,272 ;  and  in  Detroit, 
19,298.  In  Detroit  the  plumbing  inspections  numbered  6273. 

Inspection  of  Food  and  Offensive  Trades.  —  The  large 
cities  have  milk  inspectors,  who  examine  the  milk  offered 
for  sale,  have  power  to  make  complaints  against  sellers  of 
impure  milk,  and  sometimes  revoke  licenses  for  cause.  In 
some  cities  there  are  also  special  inspectors  of  animals,  pro- 
visions, markets,  and  dairies.  Several  states  have  enacted 
general  laws  prohibiting  food  adulteration,  and  these  are 
enforced  by  state  authorities.  Examples  of  such  laws  are 
to  be  found  in  the  statutes  of  New  York  (passed  in  1881), 
Massachusetts  (passed  in  1882),  New  Jersey,  and  Ohio. 

Offensive  trades  are  likewise  sometimes  under  special 
supervision  of  municipal  health  departments.  The  most 
important  trades  of  this  kind  are  slaughter-houses,  fertilizer, 
glue,  and  soap  factories,  tripe-boiling  establishments,  chemi- 
cal works,  stables,  and  gas-works.  Most  cities  of  over 
50,000  population  have  one  or  two  milk  inspectors  ;  but 
only  a  few  cities  have  even  a  small  staff  for  the  inspection 
of  other  food  supplies  and  of  offensive  trades.  New  York 
has  50  inspectors  for  these  latter  purposes;  Chicago,  15; 
San  Francisco,  11 ;  New  Orleans,  14 ;  Cincinnati,  7 ;  Mil- 
waukee, 8.  The  division  of  food  inspection  and  offensive 
trades  in  the  New  York  Health  Department  in  1898  made 
over  1,000,000  inspections,  condemned  nearly  10,000,000 
pounds  of  food  supplies,  and  made  4205  chemical  analyses.1 

1  INSPECTIONS  MADE  AND  SUPPLIES  CONDEMNED  IN  NEW  YORK 


Items 

Inspections  made 

Quantity  condemned 
(Pounds) 

Analyses  made 

Milk     

106,778 

258 

1,090 

Fruit  and  food  .... 
Meat  and  fish    .... 
Water  

519,661 
399,938 

7,746,959 
860,963 

2,735 
380 

Cows 

14  657 

Offensive  trades    .    .    . 

35,632 

Total     

1,076,666 

9,607,180 

4,205 

PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND   SAFETY  169 

In  1898  the  Boston  Health  Department  examined  54,138 
animals,  13,273  samples  of  milk,  719  samples  of  butter  and 
oleomargarine,  and  1039  samples  of  vinegar  and  cider  vinegar; 
condemned  42  animals,  with  an  aggregate  weight  of  11,086 
pounds,  and  21,390  pounds  of  provisions;  and  prosecuted 
186  dealers  in  milk,  24  dealers  in  butter  and  oleomargarine, 
and  28  dealers  in  vinegar  and  cider  vinegar.  The  Detroit 
Health  Department  examined  3288  samples  of  milk  and 
1943  of  food-stuffs,  and  condemned  338,810  pounds  of  meat 
and  fish.  The  St.  Paul  Health  Department  made  3708 
inspections  of  meat,  and  condemned  27,685  pounds. 

Vaccination.  —  Laws  in  regard  to  vaccination  are  found 
from  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  practice 
is  not  so  general  in  the  United  States  as  in  Germany,  where 
all  children  over  two  years  of  age  are  inoculated.  The 
most  effective  American  regulation  is  one  preventing  unvac- 
cinated  children  from  attending  schools.  In  New  York 
City  25,831  primary  school  children  were  vaccinated  in 
1898,  and  33,366  secondary  school  children  —  in  all,  59,197. 
The  same  year  3282  persons  were  vaccinated  in  Boston. 

Management  and  Control  of  Infectious  Diseases 

Discovery,  Isolation,  and  Disinfection.  —  Before  1880  small- 
pox was  the  only  disease  which  was  specifically  required  to 
be  reported.  At  present,  however,  in  cities  and  through- 
out densely  populated  states,  all  cases  of  smallpox,  diph- 
theria, scarlet  fever,  and  typhoid  fever  must  be  reported 
promptly.  Other  diseases  less  frequently  requiring  notifica- 
tion are  measles,  cerebro-spinal  meningitis,  yellow  fever,  lep- 
rosy, Asiatic  cholera  (which  has  not  been  epidemic  in  the 
United  States  since  1873),  whooping  cough,  and  German 
measles.  Tuberculosis,  although  recognized  as  infectious,  is 
required  to  be  reported  only  in  New  York  city. 

The  following  statistics  are  for  the  period  1894-1898,  and 
are  compiled  from  reports  from  six  states  (Massachusetts, 
Michigan,  Rhode  Island,  Vermont,  Connecticut,  and  Indiana) 
and  from  large  cities  in  other  states :  — 


170 


MUNICIPAL   ACTIVITIES 


Diseases 

Number  of  Cases 
reported 

Number  of  Regis- 
tered Deaths 

Percentage  of 
Fatal  Cases 

Smallpox  ... 

9,222 

2  385 

25  8 

Typhoid  fever   .     .    . 
Diphtheria  and  croup 
Scarlet  fever.     .     .     . 
Measles    

69,758 
195,783 
127,847 
217,755 

13,284 
44,411 
9,211 
6,424 

19.0 
22.7 
7.2 
2.8 

620,365 

75,715 

12.2 

To  assist  in  the  discovery  of  cases  of  infectious  diseases, 
a  few  large  cities  have  special  medical  inspectors  to  exam- 
ine doubtful  cases,  and  also  to  examine  children  in  public 
schools.  In  1898  the  medical  sanitary  inspector  of  New 
York  city  made  75,728  inspections.  In  New  York  139,965 
children  were  examined,  and  7606  were  excluded ;  in  Boston 
50,991  children  were  examined,  and  7896  were  excluded. 

To  guard  against  the  introduction  of  infectious  diseases 
from  abroad,  quarantine  officers  are  established  at  ports,  and 
it  is  their  duty  to  examine  all  incoming  ships,  and  upon  the 
discovery  of  cases  of  infectious  disease,  to  take  proper  steps 
for  their  isolation,  and  for  the  disinfection  of  exposed  per- 
sons, baggage,  clothing,  etc.  In  New  York  the  quarantine 
officer  is  a  state  official  ;  in  New  Orleans  the  state  board, 
which  acts  as  the  municipal  board  of  health,  has  control ; 
and  in  Boston  and  Baltimore  the  quarantine  officers  are 
appointed  by  the  municipality. 

Municipal  laboratories  exist  only  in  a  few  of  the  largest 
of  the  American  cities.  The  Boston  laboratory  was  first 
opened  in  1898.  The  following  tables  show  the  number  of 
bacteriological  tests  made  in  six  cities :  — 


Year 

Cities 

Diphtheria 
Tests 

Tuberculosis 
Tests 

Typhoid 
Fever  Tests 

Total 

1898 

New  York 

11,557 

3,945 

1,886 

17,388 

1898 

Chicago 

780 

716 

1,495 

1898 

Boston 

3,988 

122 

4,110 

1898-1899 

Cincinnati 

466 

95 

20 

681 

1898 

St.  Paul 

1,621 

339 

278 

2,238 

1898-1899 

Detroit 

449 

87 

536 

PUBLIC   HEALTH   AND   SAFETY 


171 


Chemical  analyses  made  in  the  same  cities  were  as  fol- 
lows :  — 


Cities 

Analyses  of 

Total 

Milk 

Meats 

Water 

Other 
Substances 

New  York 
Chicago 
Cincinnati 

1,090 
19,296 
212 

380 
1,266 

2,736 

4,205 
20,562 
212 

St.  Paul 

17 

687 

81 

34 

719 

Boston 
Detroit 

13,273 
1,119 

20 

1,768 

15,031 
1,139 

The  methods  of  disinfection  employed  in  America  are 
much  the  same  as  those  in  Europe.  Apparatus  for  the 
steam  disinfection  of  movable  material  is  frequently  found 
in  hospitals  and  sanitariums.  For  the  disinfection  of  closed 
apartments,  formaldehyde  has  within  the  last  three  years 
largely  superseded  sulphurous  acid.1  Seventeen  thousand 
four  hundred  and  ninety-two  inspections  have  been  made  by 
the  disinfecting  corps  of  the  New  York  board  of  health. 
In  Boston  3360  premises,  including  6939  rooms,  were 
disinfected. 

Treatment  of  Infectious  Diseases.  —  Hospitals  for  the  treat- 
ment of  infectious  diseases  are  not  so  general  in  the  United 
States  as  in  Great  Britain,  where  most  of  the  large  cities  have 
special  establishments.  Smallpox  hospitals  have  existed 
here  from  an  early  period ;  but  as  the  disease  occurs  only 
at  irregular  intervals,  and  the  hospitals  are  consequently 
closed  much  of  the  time,  their  equipment  has  usually  been 
primitive,  and  popular  distrust  is  shown  by  the  prevalence 
of  the  name  "  pest-house."  Within  the  past  five  or  ten  years 
special  provisions  have  been  made  in  some  of  the  larger 
cities.  Fifteen  of  the  sixty-two  largest  cities  now  have 
facilities  for  treating  infectious  diseases.  New  York  city 
has  four  hospitals,  which  in  1898  treated  3013  cases.  Infec- 


1  S.  W.  Abbott,  Public  Hygiene,  pp.  26-27. 


172  MUNICIPAL   ACTIVITIES 

tious  diseases  hospitals  are  also  to  be  found  in  Chicago, 
Boston,  Paterson,  and  Worcester.  Isolation  hospitals  for 
persons  suffering  with  tuberculosis  are  less  common,  and 
those  in  existence  are  usually  managed  by  private  parties  or 
corporations. 

Vital  Statistics 

Vital  statistics  include  statistics  of  births,  marriages,  and 
deaths,  of  which  the  last  is  the  most  important.  Detailed 
and  classified  information  relative  to  the  deaths  in  different 
localities,  at  different  ages,  due  to  different  causes,  and  in 
different  races  of  people,  helps  to  locate  the  great  leaks  of 
human  life,  and  to  indicate  the  proper  place  for  the  applica- 
tion of  remedies.  Such  statistics  are  also  valuable  as  tests 
of  the  efficiency  of  health  administration.  Some  foreign 
countries  have  well-developed  systems  for  the  collection  of 
vital  statistics ;  but  in  the  United  States  the  only  attempts 
made  for  the  country  at  large  have  been  made  by  the  decen- 
nial national  census  since  1860,  and  these  statistics  have 
been  incomplete  on  account  of  the  absence  of  local  data. 
Ten  states  (including  the  six  New  England  states,  and  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  Michigan)  have  fairly 
complete  statistics  for  recent  years.  In  other  states  system- 
atic work  is  to  be  found  only  in  the  cities,  and  even  here  the 
birth  and  marriage  statistics  are  generally  very  deficient,  and 
often  the  death  statistics,  too,  are  far  from  complete. 

From  the  records  of  some  cities,  where  fairly  complete 
records  have  been  kept  for  a  number  of  years,  it  is  possible 
to  show  the  results  of  recent  sanitary  and  health  regulations; 
and  late  statistics,  which  are  available  for  a  large  number  of 
cities,  will  indicate  where  there  is  the  greatest  need  for 
further  improvement.  Thus  the  statistics  collected  by  the 
Department  of  Labor  show  a  high  death  rate  from  typhoid 
fever  in  Philadelphia,  Pittsburg,  Allegheny,  and  Louisville, 
which  is  good  evidence  that  the  water  supply  in  those  cities 
is  not  free  from  contamination.1 

1  Bulletin  of  Department  of  Labor,  September,  1900. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND  SAFETY 


173 


VITAL  STATISTICS^ 
NEW  YORK  CITY  :  BOROUGHS  OF  MANHATTAN  AND  THE  BRONX 


Number  of  Deaths  from 

Year 

Smallpox 

Scarlet 
Fever 

Typhoid 
Fever 

Diarrhceal 
Diseases 

Diph- 
theria 

Deaths 

1863-1865 

1,146 

1,685 

1868-1872 

2,256 

4,583 

1,766 

19,777 

1,597 

136,854 

1873-1877 

2,210 

4,312 

1,662 

18,743 

7,846 

143,875 

1878-1882 

768 

7,224 

2,071 

18,177 

6,842 

163,835 

1883-1887 

168 

2,871 

2,360 

17,759 

7,318 

181,011 

1888-1892 

167 

5,208 

1,897 

17,672 

7,659 

207,946 

1893-1897 

291 

2,462 

1,625 

14,937 

8,894 

209,560 

CINCINNATI 


Number  of  Deaths  from 

Tear 

Scarlet  Fever 

Typhoid  Fever 

Diphtheria 

Death  Rate 

1873 

410 

136 

72 

21.70 

1879 

646 

91 

162 

18.89 

1880 

134 

178 

103 

18.49 

1890 

17 

206 

414 

19.81 

1899 

13 

121 

65 

18.41 

BOSTON 


Percentage  of  Deaths  from 


1   CAi 

Smallpox 

Scarlet  Fever 

Typhoid  Fever 

Typhus  Fever 

1841-1846 

3.64 

14.99 

6.92' 

1846-1850 

5.47 

11.41 

19.40 

1851-1855 

4.39 

9.11 

3.02 

1856-1860 

4.70 

14.23 

4.80 

0.22 

1861-1865 

2.78 

8.99 

5.83 

0.58 

1866-1870 

2.10 

9.80 

5.26 

0.18 

1871-1875 

7.06 

10.84 

7.09 

1876-1880 

0.04 

4.58 

3.92 

1881-1885 

0.09 

3.62 

6.19 

.      1886-1890 

0.02 

1.91 

3.91 

1891-1895 

0.14 

3.68 

3.11 

1898 

0.60 

3.40 

1899 

0.66 

1.48 

1  From  Reports  of  Boards  of  Health. 


174  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

The  central  authority  of  municipal  health  departments  is 
usually  a  board,  with  a  health  officer  as  the  executive  agent. 
This  system  is  practically  universal  in  the  smaller  cities,  and 
is  found  also  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  and  Buffalo. 
In  the  New  York  board,  consisting  of  five  members,  the 
health  officer  of  the  port  and  the  police  commissioner  are  ex 
officio  members ;  the  Philadelphia  board,  also  consisting  of 
five  members,  includes  as  an  ex  officio  member  the  director 
of  public  safety;  and  in  Buffalo  the  chairman  of  the  board 
of  public  works  and  the  mayor  constitute  two  ex  officio  mem- 
bers of  the  three  members  of  the  board  of  health.  The 
Boston  board  of  health  is  likewise  composed  of  but  three 
members.  In  several  large  cities  the  single  head  system  is 
followed  in  this  department.  In  Chicago,  Baltimore,  Cleve- 
land, and  Cincinnati  there  is  a  single  health  officer.  In 
some  cities,  however,  not  even  all  of  the  health  officials  are 
under  a  single  direction.  In  Boston  plumbing  is  under  the 
supervision  of  the  building  department ;  in  Buffalo  and  St. 
Louis  the  supervision  of  plumbing  is  independent  of  both 
the  building  and  the  health  departments ;  in  Cincinnati  the 
smoke  inspector  is  independent  of  other  authorities.  Balti- 
more has  a  special  inspector  of  bakeries,  while  elsewhere 
bakeries  are  inspected  by  the  state  factory  inspectors. 

Instances  of  state  officials  conducting  the  direct  adminis- 
tration of  municipal  health  departments  are  rare.  The  state 
commission  for  New  York  lasted  only  from  1866  to  1870. 
New  Orleans  has  a  state  board  acting  as  a  municipal  author- 
ity; the  Detroit  board  of  health  is  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor; and  in  Paris  the  health  officials  are  under  the  direction 
of  the  centrally  appointed  prefect  of  police.  Elsewhere  the 
health  authorities  are  locally  chosen.  A  general  supervision 
over  local  health  departments,  however,  is  exercised  by  a 
central  authority  in  all  the  principal  countries.  In  France 
and  Prussia  the  central  board  of  health  is  one  of  the  bureaus 
in  the  ministry  of  the  interior.  In  England  one  of  the 
leading  functions  of  the  Local  Government  Board  is  to  secure 
the  enforcement  of  public  health  laws  by  local  authorities. 
In  the  United  States  there  are  state  boards  of  health  in  most 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND  SAFETY  175 

states,  with  original  authority  in  certain  matters  and  a  gen- 
eral supervision  over  local  officials.  The  first  state  board 
of  health  organized  was  that  of  Louisiana  in  1855.  Massa- 
chusetts established  one  in  1869,  California  in  1870,  Virginia 
and  Minnesota  in  1872,  and  Michigan  in  1873.  By  1896 
such  boards  were  to  be  found  in  thirty-two  states ;  and 
to-day  the  only  states  without  a  board  of  health  are  Texas, 
Wyoming,  Montana,  and  Idaho. 

BUILDING   DEPARTMENTS 

Building  regulations  have  in  general  four  objects  in  view  : 
1,  protection  from  fire  ;  2,  stability  of  construction  ;  3,  sani- 
tary conditions  ;  and  4,  the  satisfaction  of  aesthetic  taste. 
The  building  regulations  to  dimmish  the  danger  of  fires  are 
usually  the  most  exacting,  and  constitute  a  most  important 
means  of  guarding  against  such  danger.  The  requirement 
that  within  the  "  fire  limits "  the  external  structure  of  all 
buildings  shall  not  be  of  wood,  but  of  some  fire-proof  mate- 
rial, is  the  most  general.  To  this  are  added  in  many  cities 
rules  requiring  fire-proof  materials  in  the  internal  construc- 
tion, the  provision  of  fire-escapes  and  fire-proof  elevators, 
the  careful  insulation  of  electric  wires,  gas  fixtures,  boilers, 
and  other  furnishings  likely  to  produce  fire,  the  construc- 
tion of  internal  fire  walls  to  limit  the  progress  of  fire,  and 
the  provision  in  very  tall  buildings  of  auxiliary  fire  appara- 
tus, such  as  stand-pipes  and  hand  chemical  extinguishers. 
The  regulations  usually  apply  only  to  a  limited  section  of 
the  city  known  as  the  "  fire  limits,"  and  including  the  com- 
pactly built  district.  Within  these  limits  different  regula- 
tions may  be  made  for  different  classes  of  buildings,  and  the 
requirements  vary  from  city  to  city. 

In  Europe  wood  is  much  less  used  as  a  building  material 
than  in  the  United  States,  partly  because  it  is  almost  as  ex- 
pensive as  fire-proof  materials.  In  American  cities  wood  is 
plentiful  and  cheap,  and  formed  the  material  for  most  of  the 
early  structures.  For  a  long  time  there  were  no  building  laws 
in  American  cities ;  but  the  great  fire  in  Chicago  in  1871, 
and  that  in  Boston  the  following  year,  in  combination  with 


176  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

the  higher  insurance  rates  which  followed,  led  to  ordinances 
regulating  building  construction.  Since  1887  revised  building 
laws  have  been  enacted  in  all  the  largest  American  cities. 

The  most  rigid  requirements  are  made  for  buildings  of  a 
public  character,  and  for  the  huge  buildings  in  large  cities 
which  are  occupied  by  so  many  persons  as  to  acquire  a  public 
character.  Thus  in  New  York,  every  building  to  be  used 
as  a  hotel,  lodging-house,  school,  theatre,  jail,  police  station, 
hospital,  or  asylum  exceeding  35  feet  in  height,  and  all  other 
buildings  over  75  feet  in  height,  must  be  "  fire-proof  "  ;  wood- 
work is  allowed  only  for  doors  and  windows,  the  frames  for 
the  same,  floor  boards  and  sleepers  (the  space  between  the 
floor  sleepers  being  filled  with  fire-proof  material).  In 
buildings  over  150  feet  in  height,  even  these  parts  must  be 
of  fire-proof  material.  Detailed  regulations  are  also  made 
to  insure  the  complete  stability  of  buildings  in  foundation, 
walls,  piers,  partitions,  floors,  girders,  and  internal  structure. 

Building  regulations  to  prevent  unsanitary  conditions  take 
two  main  directions.  In  the  first  place,  there  are  the  regula- 
tions to  insure  sanitary  plumbing  and  connections  with  the 
sewerage  system.  Such  regulations  are  to  be  found  almost 
as  frequently  as  any  other  form  of  building  rules.  The 
second  class  of  these  regulations  are  to  aid  in  securing  an 
ample  supply  of  light  and  air. 

In  the  largest  cities  the  pressure  of  population  has  led  to 
the  construction  of  buildings  so  crowded  together  that  it  has 
been  found  necessary  to  insist  by  law  upon  certain  minimum 
provisions  for  light  and  air  in  tenement  houses.  The  system 
of  tall  tenements  with  no  back  yard  space  became  a  serious 
evil,  first,  in  the  large  industrial  cities  which  developed 
rapidly  during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Liverpool  and  Glasgow  led  the  way  in  enacting  preventive 
measures,  and  regulations  of  this  sort  are  now  to  be  found  in 
most  British  cities.  In  London  and  Liverpool  the  building 
rules  limit  the  height  of  the  dwelling-houses  to  the  width  of 
the  street,  and  require  in  the  rear  a  courtyard,  which  also 
must  equal  in  width  the  height  of  the  building.1 

1  Builder,  November  30,  1895. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND   SAFETY  177 

The  principal  cities  in  continental  Europe  also  have  simi- 
lar regulations.  Those  of  Paris  fix  the  maximum  height  of 
the  buildings  at  91  feet,  while  the  height  of  buildings  on 
streets  less  than  65  feet  in  width  is  limited  to  a  figure  below 
this.  Rear  courts  must  have  a  mean  breadth  of  16  feet,  and 
if  the  building  is  over  60  feet  in  height,  a  mean  breadth  of 
over  20  feet.  Interior  courts  or  light  shafts  must  be  at  least 
6  feet  in  breadth  and  100  square  feet  in  area.1  The  con- 
struction of  chimneys  in  Paris  is  also  regulated  by  law.  The 
new  building  code  of  Berlin  adopted  in  1888  requires  that 
one-third  of  each  lot  shall  be  left  unbuilt  on,  and  also  fixes 
minimum  limits  for  the  cubic  capacity  of  each  room.2  In 
Rome  the  rules  adopted  in  1887  limit  the  height  of  tene- 
ments to  one  and  one-half  times  the  width  of  the  street,  with 
a  maximum  of  80  feet ;  the  width  of  inner  and  rear  courts 
must  be  not  less  than  one-third  the  height  of  the  building, 
and  the  minimum  height  is  fixed  for  the  ceilings  of  rooms.3 

In  most  American  cities  the  evils  of  overcrowding  are  not 
yet  serious.  Land  has  been  so  cheap  that  buildings  have 
been  spread  over  a  large  area,  while  even  in  the  large  cities 
the  local  rapid  transit  systems  have  aided  in  preventing  too 
great  a  concentration  of  population.  But  in  some  of  the 
older  cities  in  the  Eastern  states  the  housing  problem  is  a 
matter  of  importance  ;  while  in  New  York  the  situation  for 
the  last  fifty  years  has  been  comparable  to  that  in  the  most 
congested  cities  of  Europe,  and  the  building  rules  before  1901 
were  more  lax  in  requiring  light  and  air  space  than  those 
of  any  other  city  where  such  regulations  are  necessary. 
There  were  no  limits  on  the  height  of  a  tenement  of  "  fire- 
proof "  construction;  if  the  two  lower  floors  only  had  fire- 
proof construction,  only  five  stories  above  the  ground  were 
allowed.  Such  buildings  were  permitted  to  cover  from  75  to 
80  per  cent  of  a  lot ;  and  on  the  ordinary  lot  of  25  by  100 
feet  this  condition  was  met  by  leaving  a  court  10  feet  wide  in 
the  rear,  and  narrow  strips  or  shafts  2J  feet  wide  by  50  feet 
in  length  on  either  side  of  the  building.  A  new  tenement- 

1  Block,  Dictionnaire  de  r Administration. 

2  Shaw,  Continental  Europe,  p.  358.  8  Ibid.,  p.  281. 


178  MUNICIPAL   ACTIVITIES 

house  law  passed  by  the  state  legislature  in  1901  imposes 
better  standards  for  future  building. 

For  the  enforcement  of  these  various  restrictions  there  is 
in  the  large  cities  a  building  department  with  an  administra- 
tive force  of  architects  and  inspectors.  Builders  are  required 
to  submit  for  approval  plans  of  proposed  building  construc- 
tion and  alterations,  while  inspectors  visit  buildings  in  pro- 
cess of  construction  to  see  that  the  requirements  are  obeyed. 

The  Boston  Building  Department  comprises  inspectors 
of  construction  and  alterations,  of  boilers  and  engines,  of 
plumbing  and  gas-fitting  (these  inspectors  are  also  the  licens- 
ing authority  for  plumbers  and  gas-fitters),  of  elevator 
construction,  and  of  fire  escapes  and  other  means  of  egress. 
There  are  also  an  inspector  of  lime  and  an  inspector  of  petro- 
leum and  its  products.  St.  Louis,  in  addition  to  the  build- 
ing department,  has  an  inspector  of  boilers  and  a  board 
of  engineer  examiners ;  Chicago  has  inspectors  of  oils,  of 
steam  boilers,  and  of  gas  meters  ;  Cleveland  and  Detroit 
have  inspectors  of  boilers  ;  Cincinnati  and  Buffalo  have  each 
inspectors  for  the  examination  of  engineers,  and  Buffalo  has 
also  an  inspector  of  boilers  and  an  inspector  of  oils. 

Many  European  cities  have  not  been  content  with  regu- 
lating the  construction  of  future  buildings,  but  have  taken 
active  steps  to  remedy  the  previous  conditions  of  overcrowd- 
ing by  carrying  through  improvement  schemes  involving  the 
destruction  of  unsanitary  dwellings  and  the  reconstruction 
of  considerable  areas.  The  first  important  work  of  this 
kind  was  begun  in  Glasgow  as  early  as  1866.  In  all  an 
area  of  88  acres,  inhabited  by  50,000  people,  has  been  cleared. 
At  first  the  intention  of  the  improvement  trust  was  to  dis- 
pose of  the  lands  after  reconstructing  street  lines ;  but 
owing  to  a  long  period  of  stagnation  in  local  real  estate, 
about  1888  the  construction  of  new  tenements  and  dwellings 
on  the  municipal  estates  was  begun  on  a  considerable  scale. 
All  together  there  has  been  expended  over  110,000,000.  The 
property  of  this  kind  now  owned  by  the  municipality  is 
valued  at  16,000,000.  Under  an  act  of  1875  the  city  of 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND   SAFETY 


179 


Birmingham  has  carried  through  another  large  improvement 
plan,  which  involved  the  razing  of  four  thousand  over- 
crowded buildings  covering  an  area  of  ninety  acres.  The 
total  expenditure  was  about  18,500,000,  and  the  income  from 
property  now  owned  by  the  municipality  is  over  $300,000  a 
year.  The  Metropolitan  Board  of  Works  also  cleared  con- 
siderable areas,  and  sold  the  sites  as  soon  as  possible ;  but 
its  successor,  the  London  County  Council,  has  adopted  the 
policy  followed  in  Glasgow  and  Birmingham  of  building 
and  managing  buildings  in  the  cleared  districts.  The  total 
expenditure  in  the  metropolis  for  such  work  has  been  over 
$12,000,000. 

Many  other  British  cities  have  undertaken  less  extensive 
improvement  schemes,  notably  Liverpool,  Manchester,  Leeds, 
Edinburgh,  and  Dublin.  On  the  Continent  also,  in  connec- 
tion with  street  improvements,  considerable  numbers  of 
unsanitary  dwellings  have  been  removed.  The  work  in 
Paris  is  the  most  important  of  these.  In  the  oldest  part  of 
the  city,  between  the  Louvre  and  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and 
also  on  the  Isle  de  la  Cite,  thousands  of  ancient  houses, 
huddled  on  narrow  streets,  have  disappeared,  and  have  been 
replaced  by  spacious  streets  and  massive  public  edifices. 

Even  in  New  York  city  some  of  the  worst  sections  have 
been  cleared  of  unsanitary  dwellings,  partly  by  condemning 
the  land  for  use  as  small  parks,  and  partly  by  condemning 
some  of  the  worst  rear  tenements  as  public  nuisances.  But 
the  conditions  there  still  call  for  radical  action.  The  tenth 
ward  of  New  York  on  the  lower  east  side  is  the  most  densely 
crowded  district  in  the  world  ;  and  conditions  there  steadily 
grow  worse,  as  shown  in  the  following  table :  — 


Tear 

Population  of 
Tenth  Ward 

Population 
per  Acre 

1880     

47  664 

432 

1890    

67,596 

522 

1895    

70,168 

643 

1898    

82  175 

747 

180  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

In  particular  blocks  the  population  is  at  the  rate  of  over 
1700  to  the  acre.  One  block,1  by  no  means  the  worst,  had 
in  1900  a  population  of  2781,  of  whom  466  were  children. 
Four  hundred  and  forty  rooms  in  the  block  had  no  direct 
light,  and  635  others  were  lighted  only  from  air  shafts. 
Conditions  but  slightly  better  are  to  be  found  in  the  more 
recently  built-up  sections  on  the  west  side  and  in  Harlem. 
One  large  block  between  West  Sixty-First  and  Sixty-Second 
streets  had  a  population  of  over  4000,  and  less  than  half  of 
the  rooms  opened  to  the  outer  air. 

ECONOMIC    REGULATION 

The  great  bulk  both  of  regulation  and  administration 
governing  the  conduct  of  business  from  purely  economic 
motives  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  state  and  national  gov- 
ernments. But  there  are  still  some  municipal  officials  with 
powers  in  this  department. 

Most  common  is  the  sealer  or  inspector  of  weights  and  meas- 
ures, to  be  found  in  every  city  of  importance.  In  Cleveland 
this  official  is  a  subordinate  to  the  director  of  police  ;  but  else- 
where he  is  subject  only  to  the  mayor  or  council.  New  York 
city  has  10  inspectors  and  10  sealers  of  weights  and  measures, 
and  also  39  official  weighing  stations  for  coal.  Baltimore 
has  an  inspector  of  weights  and  liquid  measures,  and  an- 
other inspector  of  dry  and  long  measures.  Most  cities,  too, 
have  one  or  more  pound  masters,  by  whom  stray  animals  are 
impounded.  The  licensing  of  public  carriages  is  usually 
done  by  the  police  department ;  but  in  New  York  this  is 
the  work  of  a  special  official  known  as  the  mayor's  marshal. 
Inspectors  of  gas  meters  are  also  to  be  found  in  large  cities. 

The  longest  list  of  such  officials  is  to  be  found  in  Boston, 
where  there  are,  besides  those  previously  mentioned,  2 
weighers  of  beef,  15  weighers  of  boilers  and  heavy  machin- 
ery, 63  weighers  of  coal,  27  measurers  of  grain,  16  inspectors 
of  hay  and  straw,  8  superintendents  of  hay  scales,  3  meas- 
urers of  upper  leather,  3  weighers  and  inspectors  of  vessels 
and  ballast,  20  measurers  of  wood  and  bark,  2  fence  viewers, 

1  Bounded  by  Bayard,  Canal,  Christie,  and  Forsyth  streets. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  AND   SAFETY  181 

and  5  field  drivers.  The  police  control  department  of  the 
London  County  Council  includes  17  inspectors  of  weights  and 
measures,  5  coal-weighing  inspectors,  8  gas  meter  inspectors, 
11  veterinary  inspectors,  9  shop  hours  inspectors,  numerous 
bread  inspectors,  and  inspectors  who  grant  licenses  for  the 
sale  of  explosives,  petroleum,  acetylene,  etc. 

All  the  branches  of  municipal  activity  thus  far  considered 
are  of  a  preventive  or  regulative  character,  as  distinguished 
from  the  more  positive  and  aggressive  nature  of  municipal 
works,  charities,  and  educational  facilities.  It  is  of  interest 
to  note  some  endeavors  to  recognize  the  distinctive  nature 
of  these  regulative  functions  by  a  separate  organization  of 
the  various  authorities  in  this  class,  distinct  from  the  organi- 
zation for  the  entire  mass  of  municipal  activities.  In  Ger- 
many there  is  a  recognition  of  the  mutual  relations  of  such 
functions  in  their  treatises,  which  discuss  them  all  as  various 
branches  of  the  "police."  Although  in  France  the  legal  and 
theoretical  discussions  of  the  police  authority  do  not  include 
in  that  term  so  much  as  they  do  in  Germany,  the  actual 
scope  of  power  possessed  by  the  prefect  of  police  in  Paris, 
and  the  police  power  of  maires  in  other  French  towns,  corre- 
sponds closely  to  the  regulative  functions  ;  while  the  munici- 
pal council  has  control  only  over  public  works  and  charities. 

There  are  also  a  few  instances  in  the  United  States  where 
some  organization  is  provided  on  this  basis.  The  most  com- 
plete organizations  are  those  of  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburg, 
where  the  director  of  public  safety  has  under  his  general 
control  the  police,  fire,  building,  and  health  departments. 
In  Denver,  Col.  there  is  a  single  commission  over  the  police 
and  fire  departments.  In  Cleveland  the  health  officer  is  sub- 
ject to  the  authority  of  the  director  of  police,  and  in  New 
York  the  police  commissioner  is  a  member  of  the  board  of 
health.  Such  official  connection  between  departments  whose 
affairs  are  interwoven  at  many  points  is  advisable;  and  a 
single  head  for  the  consolidated  offices,  with  single  heads 
for  each  subordinate  division,  except  possibly  the  health 
department,  seems  preferable  to  the  board  system. 


CHAPTER   IX 
CHARITIES  AND  PROVIDENT  INSTITUTIONS 

Authorities — T.  W.  FOWLE  :  The  Poor  Law.  —  HOMER  FOLKS  :  Municipal 
Charities  in  the  United  States  :  Conference  on  Charities  and  Correction, 
1898,  p.  106.  —  FLEURY  RAVARIN:  De  V assistance  communale  en  France, 
1885.  —  Poor  Laws  in  Foreign  Countries :  Reports  to  L.  G.  Board,  1875. 
—  Municipal  Affairs,  III,  516.  —  Journal  of  the  Royal  Statistical  So- 
ciety, 61:  271:  Poor  Relief  in  Scotland,  1791-1891.  —  SHAW:  Munici- 
.  pal  Government  in  Continental  Europe,  112-118,  366-374. 

POOR   RELIEF  AND   HOSPITALS 

PUBLIC  charity  developed  during  the  Middle  Ages  under 
ecclesiastical  control.  The  monasteries  and  convents,  with 
their  monks  and  nuns,  were  distributers  of  relief,  while 
endowed  hospitals  and  homes  for  the  aged  were  also  under 
clerical  management.  During  the  period  of  the  mediaeval 
cities  there  was  also  some  municipal  action,  but  generally  in 
the  way  of  aid  to  existing  institutions.  From  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  however,  there  was  an  increase  in 
secular  activity,  and  a  comparative  decline  in  ecclesiastical 
administration  —  at  first  in  the  countries  where  the  Protestant 
movement  was  successful,  but  extending  later  to  Catholic 
countries.  During  the  nineteenth  century  there  has  been  a 
general  revision  of  charity  laws,  a  vast  increase  in  the  amount 
of  public  charitable  work,  and  a  steady  development  of 
municipal  action,  aided  in  some  countries  by  the  central 
government. 

England  was  the  first  country  to  establish  a  definite  sys- 
tem of  public  poor  relief.  The  suppression  of  the  monas- 
teries by  Henry  VIII,  at  a  time  when  economic  changes 
were  increasing  the  number  of  the  poor,  forced  the  question 
to  the  front ;  and  a  series  of  parliamentary  statutes,  beginning 

182 


CHARITIES  AND  PROVIDENT  INSTITUTIONS  183 

in  1536,  culminated  in  the  Elizabethan  Poor  Law  of  1601. 
This  made  the  relief  of  the  poor  an  obligatory  duty  on  each 
parish,  and  provided  for  the  election  of  local  officers  with 
power  to  levy  taxes  and  authorized  to  distribute  relief. 

In  Germany  as  early  as  1497  there  was  an  imperial  ordi- 
nance against  begging  and  vagrancy;  while  in  1552  poor 
relief  was  declared  to  be  a  communal  function ; x  and, 
although  no  general  system  of  officers  and  local  taxation 
was  provided,  as  in  England,  in  many  towns  communal 
authorities  were  appointed. 

A  century  after  these  measures  had  begun  in  England  and 
Germany,  municipal  action  began  in  France,  in  the  time  of 
Louis  XIV;  but  this  was  on  a  different  basis  from  that  of 
either  the  English  or  German  systems.  In  1656  the  various 
charitable  institutions  in  Paris  were  united  under  a  single 
semi-official  administrative  management.  During  the  next 
few  years  a  similar  centralization  was  effected  in  the  other 
large  cities ;  and  finally,  in  1698,  a  general  regulation  pro- 
vided for  an  identical  system  of  charitable  management  in 
each  town,  —  the  maire,  the  curt,  and  the  seigneurial  judge 
being  each  on  the  board  of  managers.  The  institutions  con- 
tinued to  be  mainly  supported  by  the  income  from  endow- 
ment, and  in  practice  the  clergy  continued  to  dominate  the 
charity  administration.2  During  the  seventeenth  century 
bureaus  of  charity  had  also  been  established  in  several  French 
cities,  which  supplemented  the  work  of  the  hospitals  and 
asylums  with  some  outdoor  relief;  but  these  bureaus  also 
depended  on  gifts  and  endowments,  and  were  under  eccle- 
siastical control.3  The  French  Constitutional  Assembly  in 
1793  confiscated  the  property  of  the  charitable  institutions, 
and  attempted  to  establish  a  centralized  system  of  poor  relief. 
The  attempt  failed,  and  in  1797  the  endowments  of  the 
hospitals  and  asylums  were  restored,  and  provision  was  made 
for  an  extension  of  outdoor  relief  through  bureaux  de  lien- 
faisance.  Communal  grants  in  aid  of  either  form  of  charity 

1  Reports  to  Local  Government  Board,  1875,  p.  25. 

2  Ravarin,  De  ^assistance  communale  en  France,  pp.  26,  27. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  186. 


184  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

were  authorized,  while  the  administrative  management  was 
altered  so  as  to  remove  the  ecclesiastical  element. 

Meanwhile,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, conditions  in  England  were  making  the  problems  of 
poor  relief  in  that  country  much  more  serious  than  formerly, 
while  the  situation  continued  to  grow  steadily  worse  until 
the  reorganization  of  the  system  in  1834.  The  causes  of 
this  situation  were  twofold:  On  the  one  hand  were  economic 
disturbances,  caused  by  the  industrial  revolution,  the  long 
war  with  France,  and  the  stagnation  of  trade  when  peace 
was  restored.  On  the  other  hand,  not  only  was  there  little 
or  no  improvement  in  the  methods  introduced  to  meet  the 
new  conditions,  but  changes  in  administration  were  made 
which  added  to  the  necessary  burden  of  relief,  and  even  pro- 
moted and  encouraged  pauperism.  In  1776  the  total  amount 
of  public  relief  had  been  XI,  529, 780;  in  1783  it  had  in- 
creased to  £2,004,238;  by  1803  the  latter  figure  had  more 
than  doubled  (,£4,267,965);  and  the  progression  continued 
until,  in  1817,  it  reached  the  maximum  of  £7,870,801,  in  a 
population  of  about  11,000,000.  The  Poor  Law  Amendment 
Act  of  1834  divided  the  country  into  about  600  districts, 
called  Poor  Law  Unions,  which  took  the  place  of  the  15,000 
parishes,  as  the  primary  unit.  Each  union  had  a  board  of 
elected  poor  law  guardians ;  while  a  central  poor  law  board 
was  established  at  London  with  radical  powers  for  directing 
the  whole  system.  Under  the  new  regime  the  outlay  for 
pqor  relief  declined  from  £7,036,969  in  1832  to  £4,044,741 
in  1837.  Since  the  latter  date  there  has  been  a  slow  increase, 
due  in  part  to  the  increase  in  population,  and  in  part  to  the 
provisions  for  hospitals,  asylums,  and  schools  as  a  part  of 
the  relief  system. 

This  historical  sketch  indicates  the  complications  of  munic- 
ipal and  other  authorities  in  the  work  of  public  charity,  and 
should  sufficiently  explain  why  it  is  necessary,  in  an  account 
of  municipal  charities,  to  discuss  non-municipal  undertak- 
ings, and  to  describe,  to  some  extent,  the  general  system  in 
each  country. 

The  broad  generalization  may  be  made  that  in  the  Latin 


CHARITIES  AND  PROVIDENT  INSTITUTIONS  185 

countries  charitable  work  is  mainly  supported  by  endow- 
ments and  private  gifts,  while  in  the  Teutonic  countries 
there  is  a  much  larger  extent  of  public  taxation  and  public 
administration.  While  the  former  system  prevails  in  France, 
Italy,  and  Belgium,  the  administration  of  the  endowed  chari- 
ties in  each  city  remains  under  the  control  of  a  public  trust, 
or  board,  which  has  a  semi-official  and,  sometimes,  a  distinctly 
municipal  character. 

In  France  the  system  of  charity  administration,  except 
that  for  special  classes,  is  based  on  the  municipal  territory, 
but  combines  municipal  and  departmental  control.  Depend- 
ent children  and  insane  persons  are  placed  in  departmental 
institutions.  In  somewhat  less  than  half  of  the  communes 
there  is  a  bureau  de  bienfaisance  for  outdoor  relief;  while  in 
the  urban  communities  there  are  hospitals  and  homes  under 
public  management.1  The  bureaux  de  bienfaisance  and  the 
hospitals  in  each  city  are  usually  controlled  by  separate 
unsalaried  boards,  each  composed  of  the  maire,  two  members 
chosen  by  the  municipal  council,  and  four  members  selected 
by  the  prefect  of  the  department.  In  the  larger  cities  the 
number  of  members  is  increased,  but  both  municipality  and 
department  continue  to  be  represented. 

In  Paris  the  arrangements  are  more  complex.  Both  the 
management  of  hospitals  and  the  supervision  of  outdoor  relief 
are  under  the  control  of  a  single  director,  appointed  by  the 
minister  of  the  interior  on  the  nomination  of  the  prefect  of 
the  Seine.  In  addition  to  this  director  there  is  a  large 
advisory  council ; 2  and  for  the  supervision  of  the  distribu- 
tion of  outdoor  relief  there  are  also  twenty  arrondissement 

1  In  1881  there  were  1636  hospitals  and  asylums  and  13,722  bureaux  de 
bienfaisance.    La  Grande  Encyclopedic,  IV. 

2  The  central  council  is  composed  of  the  prefect  of  the  Seine  (president), 
the  prefect  of  police,  two  members  each  from  the  municipal  council,  the 
arrondissement  maires,  and  the  arrondissement  bureaux  de  bienfaisance,  one 
representative  each  from  the  Council  of  State,  Court  of  Cassation,  the  doc- 
tors and  the  surgeons  in  the  hospitals,  the  university  faculty  of  medicine, 
the  chamber  of  commerce,  and  the  councils  of  prud^hommes^  and  five  others. 
The  appointments  are  made  by  the  president  of  the  republic  on  the  nomi- 
nation of  the  minister  of  the  interior. 


186  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

bureaux  de  bienfaisance,  composed  of  certain  ex-officio  and  other 
unsalaried  members.1 

The  total  expenditure  of  the  French  hospitals  and  homes 
for  the  year  1897  was  127,750,000,  of  which  110,800,000 
was  expended  by  the  institutions  in  Paris.  The  municipal 
grants  amounted  all  together  to  about  $5,000,000,  of  which 
$3,100,000  came  from  Paris.  The  total  expenditure  of  all 
the  bureaux  de  bienfaisance  was  $8,700,000,  of  which 
$2,670,000  was  municipal  subventions.  The  municipal 
funds  are  important  only  in  the  largest  cities.  In  Paris  the 
total  municipal  outlay  for  charities  in  1898  was  $5,900,000; 
in  Lyons,  $270,000;  in  Marseilles,  $800,000;  and  in  Bor- 
deaux, $227, 000. 2  Municipal  grants  are  not  obligatory  on 
the  communes,  except  for  dependent  children;  while  the  cen- 
tral authorities  do  not  favor  a  permanent  tax  for  poor  relief. 

In  Belgium  the  municipal  nature  of  the  charity  adminis- 
tration is  more  clearly  denned.  The  members  of  the  super- 
vising boards  are  elected  by  the  municipal  council,  and 
deficits  on  the  budgets  are  regularly  supplied  from  the  munic- 
ipal treasury.  In  Holland,  however,  charity  work  is  mainly 
performed  by  private  institutions  and  societies,  and  public 
aid  is  given  only  where  it  is  necessary  to  supplement  these 
—  usually  by  means  of  small  subsidies. 

In  the  Italian  cities  the  statute  of  1862  provides  for  a 
charity  commission  (Congregazione  di  Caritd)  in  each  com- 
mune, and  this  commission  has  charge  of  hospitals  and  homes, 
and  distributes  outdoor  relief.  These  boards  consist  gen- 
erally of  from  four  to  eight  members,  sometimes  chosen  by 
the  municipal  council,  but  more  often  (as  at  Rome  and  Milan) 
they  are  autonomous  authorities.  In  1880  there  were  17,870 
charitable  institutions  in  5951  communes ;  2431  communes 
had  no  charitable  boards.  The  law  requires  the  communes 
to  furnish  medical  aid  to  the  poor  and  to  take  part  in  the 

1  These  arrondissement  boards  are  composed  of  the  maire,  adjoints,  and 
municipal  councillors  of  the  arrondissement,  and  four  members  appointed  by 
the  prefect  of  the  Seine.    Block,  Dictionnaire  de,  V Administration. 

2  Annuaire   Statistique  de  la  France,  1899,  pp.  33,  42;  Cadoux,  Les 
Finances  de  Paris,  p.  698. 


CHARITIES   AND  PROVIDENT  INSTITUTIONS  187 

care  of  foundlings ;  and  the  budgets  of  the  large  cities  show 
considerable  amounts  expended  for  charities,  especially  as 
grants  to  hospitals.1  The  insane  are  cared  for  in  provincial 
institutions. 

An  imperial  law  of  1870  now  governs  the  system  of  poor 
relief  throughout  the  German  Empire,  although  this  is  sup- 
plemented by  various  statutes  of  the  several  states.  Com- 
munal relief,  as  established  in  the  sixteenth  century,  remains 
at  the  basis  of  the  system;  but  larger  districts,  including 
several  communes,  are  also  provided  for  in  the  rural  sections ; 
and  there  are  provincial  institutions  for  the  insane,  idiots, 
and  deaf-mutes,  and  provincial  poorhouses  for  paupers  not 
chargeable  to  any  particular  commune  or  district.  Each 
important  German  city  has  a  distinctly  municipal  charity 
administration,  which  embraces  outdoor  relief,  the  man- 
agement of  homes  for  the  aged  and  for  destitute  children, 
and  hospitals  (including  hospitals  for  the  insane  in  the  larger 
cities);  while  the  private  charities  are  also  united,  in  large 
measure,  to  the  municipal  service.  At  the  head  of  this  work 
in  each  city  is  one  of  the  trained,  salaried  magistrates,  with 
a  committee  of  the  council,  each  member  of  which  has  charge 
of  a  local  district;  while  these  are  aided  by  large  local  com- 
mittees of  unpaid  citizens.  Thus,  in  Berlin  there  are  about 
250  of  these  local  committees,  each  consisting  of  from  5  to 
12  members.  These  committees  act  in  two  capacities,  —  as 
investigators  and  as  distributers  of  outdoor  relief.  The 
total  expenditure  for  charities  in  Berlin  during  1898-1899 
was  $2,750,000;  in  Munich,  $300,000;  in  Leipzig,  $450,000; 
and  in  Dresden,  $370,000. 

In  the  United  Kingdom  the  principal  work  of  poor  relief 
is  under  the  control  of  local  public  authorities,  who  are,  how- 
ever, not  only  entirely  independent  of  the  borough  govern- 
ment, but  also  are  elected  in  districts  whose  boundaries  are 
not  conterminous  with  any  other  local  districts.  In  Scotland 
each  parish  is  still  a  poor  relief  district;  but  in  England, 
Wales,  and  Ireland  the  primary  unit  is  an  area  embracing  a 
number  of  parishes,  known  as  a  poor  law  union.  Each  union 

1  Naples,  $90,000  ;  Milan,  $80,000  ;  Genoa,  $100,000  ;  Florence,  $100,000. 


188  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

consists  of  both  urban  and  rural  parishes,  except  in  the  largest 
cities.  Local  boards,  comprising  a  large  number  of  members, 
are  elected  in  each  district,  and  control  the  workhouses,  the 
almshouses,  and  poor  law  schools ;  they  also  superintend  the 
distribution  of  outdoor  relief,  which  is  much  more  extensive 
than  in  other  countries.  Practically,  the  entire  revenue  of 
these  authorities  is  raised  by  taxation,  and  amounts  to 
$50,000,000  a  year.  The  district  authorities  are  under 
strict  control  by  the  Local  Government  Boards  at  London, 
Edinburgh,  and  Dublin.  The  insane,  and  other  special 
classes,  are  cared  for  in  county  institutions ;  and  in  this  field 
the  county  boroughs  either  maintain  distinctly  municipal 
institutions,  or  share  in  the  expense  and  management  (by  a 
joint  committee)  with  the  council  of  the  county. 

The  arrangements  for  charity  distribution  in  London 
require  special  mention.  The  metropolis  is  divided  into 
thirty  poor  law  unions,  in  each  of  which  there  is  elected  a 
board  of  guardians.  There  are  also  six  boards  of  managers 
of  poor  law  school  districts,  and  the  Metropolitan  Asylums 
Board,  which  has  charge  of  the  hospitals  for  the  insane  and 
for  patients  having  infectious  diseases.  The  last-named 
board  consists  of  55  members  chosen  by  the  boards  of  guar- 
dians, and  18  named  by  the  Local  Government  Board.  The 
total  annual  expenditure  for  public  charities  in  London  is 
about  117,000,000,  nearly  |4.00  per  capita,  and  by  far  the 
largest  proportionate  expenditure  for  poor  relief  in  any  city 
of  the  world. 

In  the  United  States  the  earliest  system  of  poor  relief  was 
based  on  the  English  parish  system;  and,  in  New  England 
and  the  Middle  states,  poor  relief  was  an  important  function 
of  town  government.  But  during  the  decade  1820-1830  a 
transition  was  made  in  New  York  State  from  the  town  system 
of  outdoor  relief  to  a  system  of  county  poorhouses.  Since 
f  that  time  the  county  system  has  been  adopted  in  most  of  the 
states  except  those  in  New  England.  Beginning  about  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  there  has  been  a  consider- 
able development  of  state  charitable  institutions  for  special 
classes,  as  the  insane,  deaf  and  dumb,  and  blind.  Since  the 


CHARITIES  AND  PROVIDENT  INSTITUTIONS  189 

close  of  the  Civil  War  the  pensions  to  ex-soldiers  by  the 
federal  government  have  developed  until  they  are  now  by 
far  the  most  important  item  in  the  public  charities.  In 
1890  out  of  a  total  of  1147,000,000  expended  by  all  public 
charities,  $107,000,000  was  for  pensions  by  the  federal 
government. 

Throughout  the  United  States  there  is  the  usual  absence 
of  uniformity  in  conducting  the  administration  of  state  and 
local  charities.  In  the  states  of  New  England  and  in  New 
Jersey  poor  relief  is  a  municipal  function  even  in  the  small- 
est towns.  Elsewhere  the  county  is  the  general  basis  of  the 
system;  but  most  of  the  large  cities,  either  by  absorbing  the 
county  administration,  or  by  special  provisions,  have  control 
of  public  charity  within  their  limits.  Of  the  ten  largest 
cities,  public  charities  are  municipal  in  eight,  the  exceptions 
being  Chicago  and  Buffalo,  where  they  are  a  county  function. 
The  municipality  of  Buffalo,  however,  gives  large  amounts 
to  private  institutions.  Of  the  ten  cities  next  largest  in 
population,  local  public  charities  are  under  municipal  con- 
trol in  five,  and  in  the  other  five  the  general  system  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  county  authorities.  All  together,  in  about  half 
of  the  cities  of  over  25,000  population,  local  poor  relief  is 
municipal,  while  a  third  of  the  others  have  some  municipal 
expenditure  for  charities. 

There  are  two  distinct  systems  of  administration.  The 
unpaid  board  of  from  five  to  nine  members  is  the  survivor  of 
the  former  overseers  of  the  poor.  Philadelphia  has  a  board 
of  five  members ;  Boston  has  three  boards  for  different  phases 
of  charity  work,  each  of  seven  members ;  Baltimore  has  nine 
supervisors  of  charities;  Cincinnati  has  six  overseers  of  the 
poor;  and  Detroit  has  four  poor  commissioners.  In  San 
Francisco  and  Indianapolis  the  municipal  charity  administra- 
tion is  under  the  control  of  the  same  board  which  is  at  the 
head  of  the  health  department.  Minneapolis  has  a  board  of 
charities  and  corrections.  Where  this  system  has  been  re- 
placed by  salaried  officials  the  board  system  is,  in  almost 
every  case,  replaced  by  the  single-headed  department.  The 
only  important  instances  of  salaried  boards  are  at  Columbus, 


190 


MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 


O.,  and  St.  Paul,  Minn.;  in  the  latter  case  the  members 
receive  only  a  per  diem  allowance.  New  York  has  three 
salaried  commissioners,  each  with  independent  jurisdiction 
in  different  boroughs.  The  St.  Louis  institutions  are  under 
the  control  of  the  health  commissioner,  although  there  is  also 
a  visitorial  supervising  board  of  four  unpaid  commissioners. 
Among  other  cities  with  a  single  salaried  official  for  this  de- 
partment are  Cleveland,  Pittsburg,  Washington,  Allegheny, 
Syracuse,  and  Albany. 

Outdoor  relief  from  public  funds  is  very  limited  in  Ameri- 
can cities,  except  in  the  form  of  medical  assistance  to  the 
sick.  The  principal  cities  in  which  a  considerable  amount 
of  other  outdoor  aid  is  regularly  given  are  Chicago  (Cook 
County),  Boston,  Buffalo,  Detroit,  and  Milwaukee.  Relief 
is  most  largely  given  through  admission  to  almshouses  and 
hospitals.  New  York  city  contributes  about  13,000,000  a 
year  to  private  charitable  institutions,  mainly  homes  for  des- 
titute children.  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Washington,  and 
Albany  each  give  from  $70,000  to  $250,000  to  private  insti- 
tutions, and  a  number  of  smaller  cities  give  much  smaller 
amounts.1  Chicago  (Cook  County),  Philadelphia,  Boston, 
and  St.  Louis  have  municipal  insane  hospitals,  and  a  few 
other  cities  care  for  some  part  of  their  insane ;  but,  in  gen- 
eral, this  class,  and  also  the  deaf-mutes,  blind,  and  feeble- 
minded, are  cared  for  in  state  institutions. 

1  MUNICIPAL   GRANTS   TO   PRIVATE    CHARITIES,    1899 


Cities 

Appropriations 

Cities 

Appropriations 

New  York     . 

$3,131,580 

Detroit      . 

$8,081 

Chicago 

2,796 

Newark     . 

7,500 

Philadelphia 

151,020 

Minneapolis 

2,000 

St.  Louis 

22,579 

Kansas  City,  Mo.      . 

3,500 

Boston  .... 

nothing 

Providence 

8,000 

Baltimore     . 

227,350 

Denver 

9,000 

Cincinnati    . 

nothing 

Indianapolis 

600 

Cleveland 

u 

Albany 

74,295 

New  Orleans 

30,110 

Toledo 

900 

Pittsburg 

nothing 

Richmond 

7,875 

Washington  . 

194,500 

New  Haven 

5,500 

CHARITIES   AND   PKOV1DENT  INSTITUTIONS  191 

In  addition  to  the  various  forms  of  public  charity,  there  is 
a  vast  deal  of  private  charity  by  churches  and  other  volun- 
tary philanthropic  agencies.  In  order  to  provide  a  better 
organization,  and  to  avoid  extravagance  and  waste,  there 
have  been  formed  in  each  of  the  most  important  cities  a 
Charity  Organization  Society,  which,  rather  than  any  official 
organ,  is  the  centre  for  all  the  charity  work  in  the  community. 

The  public  charities  of  New  York  city  include  three 
almshouses  and  eight  hospitals,  with  an  aggregate  value  of 
$17,000,000  and  a  capacity  of  7500  inmates.  The  annual 
cost  of  operating  these  institutions  is  slightly  less  than 
§2,000,000,  and  this  amount  added  to  the  appropriations  for 
private  institutions  makes  a  total  of  nearly  $5,000,000  a 
year  spent  by  the  city^  for  charitable  purposes.  This  does 
not  include  the  sums  spent  by  the  state  for  the  support  of 
the  city's  unfortunates  and  indigent,  maintained  in  state 
institutions,  nor  the  large  amount  of  private  charity ;  and  it 
is  impossible  even  to  estimate  these  items  for  New  York 
city.  The  following  estimate,  made  in  1896,  for  the  state 
of  New  York  will,  however,  indicate  roughly  the  relative 
importance  of  the  different  branches  of  charitable  work:  — 

County  poorhouses $1,515,000 

City  almshouses 1,649,000 

Municipal  grants       .        .        . 3,000,000 

Local  charities 6,164,000 

State  institutions 7,298,000 

Private  charities       .        .        .    $14,000,000 

Less  municipal  grants       .        .        3,000,000  11,000,000 

Total       ....    ~~!        !        .        .        .  $24,462,000 

Public  charity  in  Cook  County,  Illinois,  amounts  to  about 
$800,000  a  year,  this  including  the  cost  of  maintaining  the 
hospital  for  the  chronic  insane  as  well  as  the  other  hospitals, 
outdoor  aid,  and  small  grants  to  private  institutions. 

PROVIDENT  INSTITUTIONS 

In  addition  to  the  direct  aid  furnished  by  the  charity 
authorities  and  institutions,  there  are  a  number  of  municipal 
institutions,  which,  although  often  self-supporting,  are  dis- 


192  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

tinctly  philanthropic  in  character,  and  aid,  indirectly,  in 
reducing  the  need  for  public  charity. 

Employment  Bureaus 

Most  charity  authorities  and  organizations  make  some 
attempt  to  secure  employment  for  able-bodied  persons 
without  work;  but  the  establishment  of  distinct  official 
agencies  for  a  systematic  effort  in  this  line  is  comparatively 
rare.  More  has  been  done  in  this  line  in  German  cities 
than  elsewhere.  In  1897  there  were  seventeen  of  the  Ger- 
man cities  with  over  50,000  population,  with  municipal 
employment  offices,  while  in  as  many  more  cities  there  were 
central  labor  bureaus  under  the  control  of  private  philan- 
thropic agencies  receiving  municipal  support.  The  institu- 
tions under  private  control  seem  to  be  somewhat  the  more 
successful.  During  1897  the  Hamburg  offices  secured  places 
for  38,000,  those  at  Berlin  for  53,000,  and  those  at  Dresden 
for  21,000.  Of  the  municipal  institutions  that  at  Munich 
found  situations  for  nearly  30,000;  Cologne  13,000,  and 
Frankfort-on-the-Main  11,000.! 

Similar  institutions  are  maintained  in  most  of  the  Paris 
arrondissements  and  in  many  of  the  large  provincial  cities  of 
France:  Marseilles,  St.  Etienne,  Rouen,  Rheims,  and  Nice. 
They  are  also  to  be  found  in  other  European  cities,  as,  for 
example,  at  Brussels,  Ghent,  Geneva,  Berne,  Christiania, 
and  Bergen. 

In  Great  Britain  public  employment  offices  have  been 
established  by  the  Board  of  Trade  in  the  large  industrial 
centres,  such  as  Liverpool,  Glasgow,  Sheffield,  and  Salford. 
In  some  instances,  too,  the  borough  authorities  have  estab- 
lished temporary  bureaus  in  times  of  special  distress.  But 
none  of  these  British  offices  have  the  importance  of  those  in 
the  German  cities.  In  America,  employment  offices  have 
been  established  by  the  state  labor  bureaus  in  New  York 
city,  Chicago,  San  Francisco,  and  the  five  largest  cities  in 
Ohio.  For  the  most  part,  however,  this  service  is  performed 
by  the  trade-unions  for  their  members ;  while  every  impor- 

1  Statistisches  Jahrbuch  Deutscher  Stadte,  VIII,  120. 


CHARITIES  AND  PROVIDENT  INSTITUTIONS  193 

tant  city  has  a  large  number  of  private  agencies,  many  of 
which  are  fraudulent  and  should  be  subject  to  police  control. 

Allotments 

A  very  minor  form  of  philanthropic  endeavor  has  been  the 
letting  of  small  plots  of  land  to  the  poorer  classes  for  petty 
farming,  often  for  nominal  rentals.  In  Great  Britain,  Par- 
liament has  passed  allotments  acts  to  encourage  this;  but 
even  there  comparatively  little  has  been  done.  The  most 
important  instance  is  that  of  Nottingham,  where  the 
municipality  rents  some  230  acres,  in  lots  of  about  600 
square  yards  to  1500  persons.  The  local  custom  of  small 
garden  plots  undoubtedly  favors  the  municipal  work  in 
this  case.  There  are  allotment  systems  on  a  small  scale 
at  Paris  and  Berlin,  and  also  in  a  few  other  German 
cities.  During  the  industrial  depression  after  1893  several 
United  States  cities,  notably  Detroit  and  Buffalo,  inaugu- 
rated something  of  the  kind;  but  these  attempts  were  soon 
abandoned. 

Public  Loan   Offices 

In  many  cities  of  Central  and  Western  Europe  there  is  a 
central  pawnshop,  or  mont  de  pi£t£,  either  under  municipal 
management  or  with  at  least  a  semi-official  position.  The 
origin  of  these  institutions  dates  from  the  latter  part  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  There  are  records  of  a  pawnshop  regulated 
in  the  interest  of  borrowers  at  Fresingen,  in  Bavaria,  as 
earty  as  1198,  and  at  Salins,  in  Franche-Comte*,  in  1350. 
But  these  were  isolated  instances,  and  a  general  movement 
in  this  direction  did  not  begin  until  the  fifteenth  century  in 
Italy.  In  1462  a  monti  di  pietd  was  established  at  Perugia. 
Similar  institutions  were  soon  established  in  the  other  impor- 
tant Italian  cities.1  From  Italy  they  spread,  step  by  step, 
throughout  continental  Europe.  In  1618  a  superintendent 
of  the  monts  de  pietS  was  appointed  by  the  Archduke  of  the 
Austrian  Netherlands,  and  a  system  of  central  control  over 
the  local  institutions  was  established.  The  earliest  institu- 

i  A.  Baize,  Des  Monts  de  Piete,  I,  63-67. 


194  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

tions  in  France  were  at  Avignon,  in  1577 ;  Arras,  1621 ;  and 
Paris,  1777.  These  institutions  were  benevolent  in  charac- 
ter, to  liberate  the  poor  from  the  oppressions  of  usurers  by 
furnishing  loans  at  moderate  rates  of  interest,  and  they  were 
generally  under  ecclesiastical  control. 

At  the  time  of  the  Revolution  in  France  these  institutions 
were  suppressed  as  monopolies,  and  with  the  extension  of 
the  French  dominion  the  prohibition  was  also  applied  in 
other  countries.  But  the  evils  of  usury  and  oppression, 
under  unregulated  pawnshops,  soon  asserted  themselves; 
and  before  long  the  public  institutions  were  reestablished 
under  official  control,  but  without  ecclesiastical  control. 
During  the  nineteenth  century  the  governments  encouraged 
the  development  of  these  institutions,  and  they  have  become 
very  general. 

Municipal  establishments  of  this  kind  are  most  frequent 
in  Belgium  and  Holland.  At  least  seventeen  Belgian 
cities  have  monts  de  piete  ;  and  twenty-five  Dutch  cities  and 
towns  have  banken  van  leening,  including  all  the  important 
cities  in  the  two  countries.  In  both  countries  the  manag- 
ing boards  of  these  institutions  are  appointed  by  the  munici- 
pal councils,  and  the  capital  is  supplied  from  the  municipal 
treasury  and  (in  Belgium)  from  the  charity  bureaus.  There 
is  also  in  each  country  a  system  of  central  control  over  the 
local  establishments. 

The  reports  of  the  Belgian  monts  de  pi£t£  for  1892  show 
that  loans  were  made  to  almost  1,000,000  persons,  aggregat- 
ing $2,250,000.  More  than  half  of  the  loans  were  for  less 
than  5  francs,  and  only  4  per  cent  were  for  over  50  francs. 
The  rate  of  interest  varies  in  different  cities,  and  in  some 
places  a  sliding  scale  is  used.  The  lowest  rate  is  5  per  cent, 
and  the  maximum  16  per  cent.  The  operations  of  the  pawn 
banks  in  Holland  are  about  on  the  same  scale  so  far  as  the 
amount  of  money  is  concerned;  but  the  number  of  pledges 
is  from  two  to  four  times  as  large  for  the  same  amount  of 
loans,  showing  a  much  smaller  average  loan. 

There  are  76  German  cities,  of  over  15, 000  population,  with 
municipal  pawn  banks,  and  also  a  number  of  smaller  cities. 


CHARITIES  AND  PROVIDENT  INSTITUTIONS  195 

Thirty-six  of  the  55  cities  of  over  50,000  population  have 
municipal  loan  offices.  There  are  also  in  some  cities,  as 
Berlin,  Brunswick,  and  the  capitals  of  some  of  the  small 
duchies,  institutions  under  the  control  of  the  state  govern- 
ment. The  only  important  cities  where  there  is  neither  a 
municipal  nor  a  government  loan  house  are  Magdeburg  and 
Bremen.  But  frequently  there  are  also  establishments  under 
private  control  in  addition  to  the  public  loan  offices,  and 
the  transactions  of  the  latter  are  comparatively  of  less  impor- 
tance than  they  are  in  the  low  countries.  Thus  in  Berlin, 
for  the  year  1895-1896,  the  total  loans  were  but  a  little 
over  $1,000,000  on  192,000  articles;  in  Hamburg  for  1896, 
$380,000  on  96,000  articles;  in  Munich,  $940,000  on  417,000 
articles;  in  Dresden,  $980,000  on  136,000  articles;  and  in 
Leipzig,  $600,000  on  176,000  articles. 

In  Austria  the  system  of  pawnshops  is  much  the  same 
as  in  the  German  Empire.  At  Vienna  and  Prague  there  are 
royal  institutions,  while  the  other  large  cities  have  muni- 
cipal establishments.  Private  pawnshops  are  also  allowed 
where  the  public  authorities  have  not  undertaken  this  func- 
tion, or  where  the  public  institutions  do  not  meet  the  needs 
of  the  population.1  In  Hungary  there  are  municipal  pawn 
offices  at  Budapest  and  all  the  larger  towns.2  A  few  are 
also  to  be  found  in  Russia,  as  at  Riga,  Moscow,  Odessa,  and 
Nikolaiev. 

Monts  de  piStS  are  found  in  44  French  cities,  including 
all  but  one  of  the  16  cities  with  over  90,000  population. 
Each  institution  is  managed  by  a  director,  with  an  unsalaried 
advisory  board.  The  members  of  the  board  are  appointed  by 
the  prefect  of  the  department,  but  the  maire  is  ex  officio  chair- 
man; one-third  of  the  members  must  be  selected  from  the 
municipal  council,  and  one-third  from  the  charity  •  board. 
The  director  is  appointed  by  the  prefect  on  the  nomination 
of  the  board.  In  Paris  the  minister  of  the  interior  makes 
the  appointments,  and  the  board  consists  of  nine  appointed 
members,  with  the  prefect  of  the  Seine  and  the  prefect  of 

1  Contemporary  Review,  Vol.  66,  p.  190. 

2  British  Foreign  Office  Reports,  Parliamentary  Papers,  1894,  Vol.  90. 


196  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

police.  The  capital  of  the  institutions  consists  largely  of 
legacies  and  gifts ;  but  there  are  also  subventions  from  the 
communes,  departments,  and  the  state.  At  Grenoble  and 
Montpellier  the  endowments  enable  loans  to  be  made  without 
interest;  and  in  other  places  small  loans  are  given  gratui- 
tously. Any  surplus  that  may  be  accumulated  goes  to  the 
support  of  hospitals  or  other  charitable  institutions. 

The  total  amount  of  loans  by  all  the  establishments  in 
French  cities  during  1897  was  113,000,000  on  2,962,984 
articles.  About  one-third  of  the  loans  were  for  less  than 
5  francs,  and  another  third  between  5  and  10  francs.1 
The  transactions  of  the  Paris  institution  amounted  to  over 
16,600,000  in  loans  on  1,138,000  articles,  showing  a  much 
larger  average  loan  than  in  other  cities. 

Similar  institutions  are  found  in  the  principal  cities  of 
Switzerland,  Italy,  Spain,  and  Spanish-America.  As  in 
France,  the  government  as  well  as  the  municipality  have  a 
voice  in  the  management.  Thus  at  Rome  two  members  of 
the  board  of  managers  are  chosen  by  the  provincial  council, 
and  five  by  the  municipal  council. 

While  this  sphere  of  municipal  activity  has  been  so  gen- 
erally entered  by  the  large  cities  of  continental  Europe,  none 
of  the  British  or  American  municipalities  have  yet  under- 
taken a  similar  work.  In  Great  Britain  the  business  of 
pawnbroking  is  licensed  by  the  central  government,  and 
both  there  and  in  the  United  States  pawnbrokers  are  subject 
to  police  control.  Public  institutions,  by  making  loans  at 
moderate  rates  of  interest,  are,  however,  a  valuable  assistance 
to  the  system  of  public  charities ;  while  they  also  cooperate 
with  the  police  in  recovering  stolen  property  more  readily 
than  do  private  institutions. 

Savings  Banks 

During  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  the  pub- 
lic loan  offices  in  Italy,  Belgium,  and  other  continental 
countries  acted  not  only  as  pawnshops,  but  also  as  deposi- 

1  Annuaire  Statistique  de  la  France,  1899,  p.  35. 


CHARITIES  AND  PROVIDENT  INSTITUTIONS  197 

tories  for  savings.  This  combination  still  survives  in  a 
number  of  countries,  more  especially  in  Italy,1  Spain,  and 
Spanish  America;  and  there  is  an  instance,  also,  at  Nancy, 
in  France.  In  the  other  countries  where  public  loan  offices 
are  common,  savings  banks  are  usually  separate  institutions; 
but  they  are  generally  under  a  similar  system  of  municipal 
control. 

A  municipal  savings  bank  was  established  at  Karlsruhe  in 
1816,  one  at  Berlin  in  1818,  and  in  the  years  immediately 
following  similar  municipal  establishments  were  inaugurated 
at  other  cities  in  Germany  and  in  a  few  French  cities.  Since 
then  private  savings  banks  have  attained  a  large  develop- 
ment; while  in  more  recent  years  national  institutions  in 
connection  with  the  postal  service  have  been  established  in 
many  countries.  But  the  municipal  establishments  have 
also  increased  steadily,  especially  in  Germany,  Austria, 
France,  and  Italy;  and  in  all  of  these  countries  they  are 
much  more  important  than  either  private  or  national  savings 
banks. 

None  of  the  German  states  have  established  postal  savings 
banks,  and  perhaps  on  that  account  the  municipal  establish- 
ments are  most  numerous  in  those  countries.  An  exhaustive 
investigation  made  by  the  Prussian  government  showed  that 
in  1896  there  were  in  Prussia  792  municipal  savings  banks, 
376  provincial  banks,  and  315  private  institutions.  In 
Bavaria  there  were  325  municipal  establishments  to  75 
of  other  kinds,  Baden  had  123  municipal  savings  banks, 
and  Hesse,  43.  From  the  large  number  of  municipal 
institutions  it  is  evident  that  they  are  to  be  found  in 
small  cities  and  towns  as  well  as  in  the  larger  communi- 
ties. Among  the  latter,  municipal  establishments  are 
almost  universal.  Of  the  52  largest  cities,  45  have  mu- 
nicipal savings  banks ;  and  the  only  exceptions  in  cities  of 
over  100,000  population  are  Hamburg  and  Bremen.  The 
statistics  in  a  few  of  the  largest  cities  for  the  year  1897  are 
given  herewith : 2  — 

1  Provinces  of  Modena  and  Parma. 

2  Statistisches  Jahrbuch  Deutscher  StMte,  VIII,  105. 


198 


MUNICIPAL   ACTIVITIES 


City 

Number  of  Books 

Amount  of  Deposits 

Berlin         
Munich       

608,888 
71,903 

$52,566,000 
8  109  000 

170,145 

14  333  000 

239,916 

18  521  000 

91,646 

1  1  068  000 

In  Austria  there  are  national  postal  savings  banks,  but 
municipal  institutions  do  by  far  the  largest  share  of  the 
business.  There  are  368  of  these,  by  the  latest  report, 
as  well  as  26  provincial  and  66  private  establishments. 
At  Vienna,  in  1895,  there  were  460,000  depositors  with 
$73,000,000  in  deposits,  and  at  Prague  141,000  depositors 
and  $42,000,000  in  deposits.1 

There  are  458  municipal  savings  banks  in  France  and  but 
86  private  institutions.  The  national  postal  system  has  nearly 
7500  offices;  but  the  municipal  and  private  institutions  do 
four-fifths  of  the  business.  In  1897  they  had  6,772,582 
accounts  and  $685,400,000  of  accumulated  deposits,  while 
the  national  system  had  2,944,685  accounts  and  $168,800,000 
of  accumulated  deposits.2  The  managing  boards  for  the 
French  municipal  institutions  are  composed  of  the  maire 
and  fifteen  directors  elected  by  the  municipal  council  for 
three-year  terms,  five  of  whom  must  be  members  of  the  coun- 
cil. At  Paris  the  board  of  directors  has  twenty-five  mem- 
bers, five  retiring  each  year;  and  their  successors  are  chosen 
by  the  remaining  members,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
minister  of  commerce.  All  of  the  local  banks  in  France 
are  subject  to  the  supervision  of  the  finance  department  of 
the  national  government.3 

In  most  provinces  of  Italy  the  savings  banks  are  under 
the  management  of  private  semi-philanthropic  societies. 
Thus,  at  Milan,  the  autonomous  charity  board  conducts  a 
savings  bank,  with  branches  in  neighboring  localities.4 

1  Oesterreichisches  Statistisches  Bureau,  1895. 

2  Annuaire  Statistique  de  la  France,  1899,  pp.  71,  76. 

8  Block.  Dictionnaire  de  V Administration,  p.  396.  *  Ibid.,  p.  405. 


CHARITIES  AND   PROVIDENT  INSTITUTIONS  199 

Municipal  institutions  are  found,  to  some  extent,  in  Swit- 
zerland, Denmark,  and  Sweden;  and  in  Russia  there  is  one 
establishment  at  Riga,  in  operation  before  the  national  postal 
system  was  introduced. 

Private  institutions  and  national  postal  systems  occupy 
the  savings  bank  field  in  other  countries.  Even  in  Belgium 
and  Holland,  where  municipal  pawn  offices  are  so  general, 
there  are  no  municipal  savings  banks.  In  the  United  States 
there  is  no  national  postal  system ;  and  the  entire  business 
is  conducted  by  private  establishments,  subject  to  a  limited 
supervision  by  the  state  governments. 


CHAPTER  X 
EDUCATION 

Authorities.  —  N.  M.  BUTLER,  editor :  Education  in  the  United  States.  — 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education  :  Reports,  1889-1890,  1890-1891  (foreign 
systems),  1893-1894,  1898-1899.  GRAHAM  BALFODR:  The  Educational 
Systems  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  —  R.  G.  BOONE  :  Education  in  the 
United  States.  —  SEELEY  :  German  School  System.  —  BOLTON  :  Second- 
ary Schools  in  Germany.  — RUSSELL  :  German  Higher  Schools.  — J.  L. 
PICKARD  :  School  Supervision.  —  DOUGLAS  CAMPBELL  :  The  Dutch  in 
England,  Holland,  and  America. —N.  S.  SHALER:  The  United  States 
of  America.  —  Chicago  Educational  Commission's  Report,  1899.  —  Edu- 
cational Review,  17:  464;  20:  61,  99,  141.  —  Annals  of  the  American 
Academy  of  Social  and  Political  Science,  15:  27,  271.  —  Dial,  XXVI, 
107-109. 

ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

EDUCATIONAL  history  begins  with  the  earliest  civiliza- 
tions ;  but  modern  city  school  systems,  like  other  municipal 
activities,  are  of  comparatively  recent  development.  Dur- 
ing the  Middle  Ages,  and  in  most  countries  until  well  into 
the  nineteenth  century,  the  educational  system  was  almost 
entirely  under  ecclesiastical  or  private  control ;  and  schools 
were  supported  by  fees  or  charitable  endowments.  There 
were,  however,  some  exceptional  instances  of  municipal 
action.  In  Germany,  from  the  later  Middle  Ages,  some 
of  the  cities  had  furnished  financial  aid  to  the  schools.  In 
the  New  England  colonies,  from  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  there  were  public  schools  supported  by  the 
towns.1  In  Scotland  an  act  of  1696  required  every  parish 
to  establish  a  school. 

1  The  Massachusetts  school  law  of  1647  provided  that:  "  To  the  end  that 
learning  may  not  be  buried  in  the  graves  of  our  forefathers  ...  it  is  ordered 
that  every  township  within  this  jurisdiction  shall  appoint  one  within  their 
towns  to  teach  all  such  children  as  shall  resort  to  him  to  write  and  read, 

200 


EDUCATION  201 

The  development  of  an  organized  school  system  began  in 
Prussia.  In  1713  a  general  school  law  was  issued  by  Fred- 
erick William  I,  and  during  his  reign  1800  public  schools 
are  said  to  have  been  established.  Frederick  the  Great,  in 
1763,  issued  a  general  school  regulation  which  established 
the  foundation  of  the  Prussian  school  system.  This  pro- 
vided for  compulsory  education,  regulated  the  selection  of 
teachers,  and  established  a  system  of  school  supervision. 
And  in  1794  another  important  statute  declared  the  public 
schools  to  be  state  institutions,  and  made  their  support  an 
obligatory  charge  on  the  heads  of  families  in  each  district.1 

In  America  the  town  schools  of  New  England  were  dupli- 
cated in  the  other  Northern  colonies.  During  the  eighteenth 
century,  however,  the  system  of  petty  school  districts  within 
the  town,  each  with  an  independent  local  committee,  arose ; 
and  with  this  method  of  administration  the  small  rural  school 
was  introduced  to  the  newly  settled  districts.  Beginning 
with  New  York,  in  1812,  a  development  of  state  super- 
vision became  noticeable,  and  by  1850  school  systems  were 
organized  in  most  of  the  Northern  states.  In  1837  a  city 
school  superintendent  was  appointed  in  Buffalo.  This  was 
followed  by  the  appointment  of  a  similar  official  in  other 
cities,  and  by  1855  superintendents  had  been  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  municipal  school  systems  in  most  of  the  principal 
cities.2 

With  the  exception  of  Germany,  very  little  was  done  along 
educational  lines  by  the  governments  of  Europe  before  1850. 
Two  important  steps  were  taken  in  1833,  when,  in  France, 
a  law  was  enacted  requiring  each  commune  to  maintain  a 

whose  wages  shall  be  paid  either  by  the  parents  or  masters  of  such  children, 
or  by  the  inhabitants  in  general  .  .  .  further  ordered  that  any  town  .  .  . 
of  one  hundred  .  .  .  householders  .  .  .  shall  set  up  a  grammar  school,  the 
master  thereof  being  able  to  instruct  youth  so  far  as  they  may  be  fitted  for 
the  university." 

1  Von  Reitzenstein,  Kommunales  Finanzwesen,  p.  663. 

8  Providence,  1839;  New  Orleans,  1841;  Cleveland,  1844;  Baltimore, 
1849 ;  Cincinnati,  1850 ;  Boston,  1851 ;  Newark  and  Brooklyn,  1853 ;  Chicago 
and  St.  Louis,  1854 ;  Philadelphia,  not  until  1883.  BUTLER,  Education  in 
the  United  States,  p.  124. 


202  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

public  school,  and  in  England  the  British  Parliament  estab- 
lished the  system  of  government  grants  to  the  private  and 
ecclesiastical  schools  in  that  country.  During  the  last  half 
century  the  public  schools  have  developed  rapidly  in  all  the 
principal  countries  of  Europe  and  America.  It  was  not, 
however,  until  1870  that  a  system  of  public  schools  was  estab- 
lished in  England,  to  be  managed  by  an  elected  school  board 
in  each  town.  The  later  development  has  included  radical 
changes  in  the  subjects  taught,  the  methods  of  teaching,  the 
training  of  teachers,  and  the  organization  and  the  supervision 
of  schools.  In  all  the  more  important  countries,  too,  the 
elementary  schools  are  now  supported  entirely  from  public 
funds,  and  with  no  tuition  fees;  and  in  many  countries 
attendance  at  school  is  required  of  all  children  of  school  age. 

These  various  systems  of  school  administration  include, 
usually,  both  central  and  local  authorities,  while  the  latter 
occupy  widely  varying  relations  to  the  other  municipal 
authorities.  It  is  therefore  important  to  note  the  relative 
extent  of  central  and  local  control  and  of  central  and  local 
taxation  for  school  purposes,  and  also  the  position  of  the 
local  authorities  in  the  general  scheme  of  municipal  gov- 
ernment. 

The  most  centralized  systems  are  to  be  found  in  France, 
Russia,  and  Prussia.  In  France  each  commune  must  estab- 
lish a  free  elementary  school,  and  provide  a  site,  buildings, 
and  supplies ;  while  there  is  a  municipal  committee  charged 
with  the  duty  of  encouraging  attendance  at  the  schools.1 
The  responsibility  of  the  commune  here  ends.  The  teachers 
are  appointed  by  the  prefects  of  the  departments ;  the  details 
of  management  are  arranged  by  the  department  school  boards ; 
the  state  minister  of  education  regulates  the  system  of 
instruction  in  minute  detail;  and  the  central  government 
pays  directly  the  teachers'  salaries.  Again,  in  Russia,  the 
city  school  commissioners  have  charge  only  of  the  ma- 
terial needs  of  the  schools;  while  the  final  appointment  of 
teachers,  the  program  of  study,  and  the  choice  of  books  are 
controlled  by  the  minister  of  public  instruction.  And  in 

1  In  Paris  there  is  one  such  committee  in  each  arrondissement. 


EDUCATION  203 

Prussia  the  system  of  instruction  is  minutely  regulated  by 
the  state ;  the  appointment  of  the  teachers  must  be  confirmed 
by  the  administrative  authorities  of  the  district  (lezirk)  ; 
and  since  1889  the  government  subventions  have  paid  the 
larger  part  of  the  salaries  and  other  expenses  of  the  per- 
sonnel. 

In  the  other  countries  of  continental  Europe,  in  Great 
Britain,  and  in  the  United  States  there  is,  in  every  city,  a 
local  authority  which  has  direct  control  of  the  schools,  selects 
the  instructors,  and  has  a  large  range  of  freedom  in  the 
organization  of  local  schools  and  systems  of  instruction. 
State  action  in  these  countries  consists  in  establishing  cer- 
tain minimum  requirements  of  school  service  and  educational 
standards,  with  a  system  of  supervision  and  inspection, 
accompanied  by  grants  in  aid  of  the  schools.  Of  the  coun- 
tries in  this  group,  the  central  supervision  is,  perhaps,  the 
most  thorough  in  England  and  Scotland ;  and  there  the  gov- 
ernment grant  pays  an  important  share  of  the  school  expenses. 
In  Italy  and  Belgium  these  grants  are  made  only  to  the 
poorer  towns;  and  in  the  United  States  the  net  result  of  a 
state  school  tax  (which  is  not  found  in  every  state)  is  to  aid 
the  rural  schools  at  the  expense  of  the  cities.  In  this  coun- 
try, too,  the  local  authorities  are  subject  to  a  very  slight 
supervision,  except  in  New  York,  where  there  is  a  consider- 
able state  control,  mainly  over  the  rural  school  districts  and 
the  secondary  schools. 

The  local  school  authorities  in  the  continental  countries 
of  Europe  are  always  a  distinctly  municipal  body.  But  in 
Great  Britain  the  school  boards  are  entirely  independent  of 
the  town  council.  They  are  elected  by  popular,  cumulative 
vote  on  general  tickets,1  and  have  not  only  the  direction  of 
the  schools,  but  also  full  power  to  determine  the  expenditures 
and  to  levy  local  school  taxes.  Where  there  is  no  school 
board,  the  town  council  has  a  school  attendance  committee  to 
enforce  the  compulsory  attendance  law ;  but  the  management 
of  the  "voluntary'*  schools  is  independent  of  the  council. 

1  Except  in  London,  where  the  members  of  the  school  board  are  elected 
in  eleven  districts,  each  returning  five  members. 


204  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

Only  five  towns  of  over  50,000  population  have  no  school 
board;  but  nearly  half  of  the  smaller  boroughs  (114  out  of 
291)  have  none,  and  in  other  urban  districts  "voluntary" 
schools  predominate. 

In  the  cities  of  the  United  States  there  is  no  exact  uni- 
formity in  the  organization  of  school  authorities  nor  in  their 
relation  to  the  municipal  government.  The  general  state- 
ment may  be  made  that  in  most  cases  the  relation  is  inter- 
mediate between  the  British  system  of  independent  boards 
and  the  continental  system  of  distinctly  municipal  authori- 
ties. What  may  be  called  the  typical  organization  has  been 
described  in  these  words :  — 

"A  board  of  education  is  created  by  law,  whose  mem- 
bers are  selected  by  the  people,  serve  without  pay,  and 
have  full  legal  power  to  establish  and  control  free  public 
schools  for  all  children  of  school  age  in  the  limits  of  the  city. 
Each  year  they  make  estimates  in  detail  of  the  amounts  of 
money  required  for  the  schools  during  the  next  coming  year, 
which  estimates  are  submitted  to  the  city  council.  That 
body  appropriates  money  for  those  purposes  named  in  the 
estimates  which  they  think  necessary  and  proper,  in  view  of 
all  the  other  needs  of  the  city  government,  and  of  the  ex- 
pected revenue  from  the  taxes  which  they  think  it  expedient 
to  levy.  The  money,  once  appropriated,  is  controlled  by  the 
board  of  education,  who  buy  sites,  build  and  repair  school- 
houses,  purchase  supplies,  and  pay  for  the  necessary  officers 
and  teachers.  They  make  regulations  for  the  management 
of  the  system,  and  employ,  as  their  executive  officers,  a  sec- 
retary and  a  superintendent,  the  former  to  look  after  the 
details  of  their  business  affairs,  and  the  latter  to  have  special 
care  of  all  matters  relating  to  instruction."1  The  important 
difference  between  this  and  the  British  system  is  that  in  the 
United  States  the  appropriations  must  be  secured  from  the 
municipal  council. 

There  are,  however,  many  variations  from  this  type,  and 
some  of  the  most  important  must  be  noted.  In  several  cities 

1  James  C.  Boykin,  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Education,  1895-1896, 
1,33. 


EDUCATION  205 

the  boards  of  education  are  appointed  by  the  mayor :  in  Chi- 
cago, Baltimore,  San  Francisco,  Jersey  City,  and  St.  Paul. 
In  New  York  the  mayor  appoints  the  members  of  the  four 
borough  boards,  and  a  central  board  of  19  members,  for  the 
whole  city,  is  composed  of  delegates  from  the  borough  boards. 
In  Savannah  the  mayor  appoints  3  members,  and  the  other 
6  are  a  close  corporation.  In  New  Orleans  a  part  of  the 
board  is  appointed  by  the  city  council,  and  a  part  by  the 
governor.  In  Milwaukee  the  board  is  selected  by  a  com- 
mittee of  4,  appointed  for  this  purpose  by  the  mayor.  In 
Philadelphia  the  central  board  of  40  members  is  appointed 
by  the  judges  of  the  Superior  Court,  but  there  are  also  locally 
elected  boards  in  each  ward.  In  Pittsburg  there  are  36 
elected  district  boards,  and  a  central  board  of  39  members, 
chosen  by  the  district  boards. 

These  city  boards  of  education  have  generally  been  com- 
posed of  from  15  to  40  members,1  but  in  several  recent  reor- 
ganizations a  small  board  has  been  substituted  for  the  larger 
one.  In  Toledo  and  Indianapolis  the  boards  of  education 
have  only  5  members,  elected  by  the  people ;  and  in  Cleve- 
land, Minneapolis,  and  St.  Paul  only  7  members,  those  in 
the  two  former  cities  being  also  elected  by  popular  vote. 
The  new  charter  in  San  Francisco  provides  for  a  paid  bipar- 
tisan board  of  4  members,  to  be  appointed  by  the  mayor.  In 
San  Francisco,  Cleveland,  and  Buffalo,  the  paid  city  super- 
intendent of  schools  is  elected  by  the  people;  and  in  the 
latter  city  this  official  acts  in  conjunction  with  a  committee 
of  the  council,  without  a  board  of  education. 

In  contrast  with  these  measures,  which  tend  to  make  the 
school  management  simply  one  department  in  the  general 
municipal  organization,  there  are  other  cases  where  the 
school  board  has  been  given  the  power  of  taxation,  and  is 
thus  established  as  a  completely  independent  authority. 
Important  instances  of  this  are  to  be  found  in  St.  Louis 
(where  the  school  tax  rate  is  limited  to  four  mills),  Boston,2 
Cincinnati,  Indianapolis  (where  the  limit  is  five  mills), 

1  Boston,  24 ;  St.  Louis,  12  ;  Cincinnati,  31 ;  Detroit,  17  ;  Providence,  33. 

2  Independent  authority  began  in  Boston  in  1898. 


206  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

Minneapolis,  Omaha,  and  Lincoln.  In  New  York  a  recent 
statute  makes  compulsory  a  levy  of  four  mills  on  the  dollar 
for  school  purposes,  and  gives  the  board  of  education  complete 
control  over  the  proceeds. 

Many  laws  recently  enacted  give  the  superintendent  of 
schools  greater  power  in  regard  to  the  appointment  of  teachers, 
course  of  study,  and  selection  of  text-books.  In  Indianapo- 
lis the  choice  of  teachers,  from  an  eligible  list,  rests  abso- 
lutely with  the  superintendent;  but  in  Baltimore,  St.  Louis, 
Rochester,  and  Toledo  the  superintendent's  choice  must  be 
confirmed  by  the  board. 

The  statistics  on  the  following  page  illustrate  the  recent 
development  and  some  prominent  features  of  elementary 
education  in  the  United  States,  England  and  Wales,  France 
and  Prussia.  In  all  of  these  countries  there  has  been  a 
marked  increase  in  number  of  schools  and  scholars,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  growth  resulting  from  increase  in  population ; 
except  that  in  Prussia  school  attendance  since  1840  simply 
keeps  pace  with  the  growth  of  population.  The  most  strik- 
ing recent  development  has  been  in  England  and  Wales, 
since  the  establishment  of  the  Board  schools.  At  the  pres- 
ent time,  the  United  States  and  Prussia  lead  in  the  propor- 
tion of  children  attending  school.  The  United  States  has 
a  larger  enrolment  in  proportion  to  population  than  the 
registration  in  the  Prussian  schools;  but  the  average  at- 
tendance in  the  former  is  little  more  than  two-thirds  of  the 
enrolment.  The  average  attendance  in  England  and  Wales 
is  about  the  same  in  proportion  to  population  as  in  the  United 
States ;  but  the  total  number  of  children  at  school  will  be 
proportionately  less.  The  statistics  for  France  show  a  much 
smaller  number  of  scholars  in  proportion  to  population  than 
in  either  of  the  other  countries.  The  much  larger  number 
of  schools  in  the  United  States  is  due  to  the  more  widely 
scattered  population  in  the  rural  districts,  and  the  conse- 
quent necessity  for  a  great  many  small  schools.  One  strik- 
ing difference  between  the  American  and  Prussian  schools 
is  in  the  relative  proportions  of  men  and  women  teachers. 


EDUCATION 


207 


STATISTICS  OF  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

UNITED  STATES 


Number 

Teachers 

Percentage 
of  School 

Average 

Year 

of 

Schools 

Population 
Enrolled 

Enrolment 

Dally 
Attendance 

Men 

"Women 

1870    .     . 

132,119 

90,293 

129,932 

61.45 

7,561,582 

4,545,313 

1880    .     . 

178,222 

122,795 

163,798 

65.50 

9,867,505 

6,144,133 

1890    .     . 

224,526 

125,625 

238,397 

68.61 

12,722,581 

8,153,636 

1899    .     . 

244,527 

131,793 

283,867 

69.34 

15,138,715 

10,286,092 

ENGLAND  AND  WALES 


Tear 

Number 
of 
Schools 

Teachers 

Average  Attendance 

Voluntary 
Schools 

Board 
Schools 

Voluntary 
Schools 

Board 
Schools 

I860      

6,012 
8,919 
17,614 
19,419 
20,064 

6,433 
12,744 
22,602 
27,012 
28,44s1 

8,920 
19,527 
30,371! 

751,325 
1,168,981 
1,981,664 
2,260,559 
2,499,133 

769,252 
1,457,358 
2,023,850 

1870      

1880               .    .     . 

1890          .... 

1899 

FRANCE,  1897-1898 


Number 
of 

Teachers 

Scholars 

Schools 

Men 

Women 

Boys 

Girls 

Schools  for  Infants 

aged  2-6    .    .     . 

5,739 

9,6442 

376,616 

372,510 

Elementary  Schools 

83,915 

69,700 

85,705 

2,777,739 

2,757,386 

Mixed  Schools  .     . 

20,929 

388,333 

339,298 

PRUSSIA  (Volkschulen) 


Year 

Number 
of 

Teac 

iers 

Schc 

lars 

Schools 

Men 

Women 

Boys 

Girls 

1822 

20  440 

21  766 

454 

743  207 

AQQ  QQQ 

1840     

23,323 

26,948 

1  559 

1  133  288 

1  090  951 

1861     

25,156 

32  173 

2  652 

1  406  014 

1  372  794 

1871     

33,130 

43  211 

3  848 

3  900  655  a 

1891     

34,742 

67  204 

8  903 

2  467  568 

2  448  918 

1896     

36  138 

71  716 

10  354 

2  624  716 

2  612  110 

1897. 


Both  sexes. 


208  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Higher  grade  schools  are,  to  a  much  larger  extent  than  the 
elementary  schools,  independent  of  the  municipalities.  Only 
in  the  United  States  are  all  of  the  public  secondary  schools 
under  the  same  control  as  the  elementary  schools.  In  con- 
tinental Europe  government  support  of  secondary  schools 
preponderates  over  municipal;  but  nevertheless  there  are  a 
considerable  number  of  municipal  schools,  especially  in  France 
(e.g.  the  colleges),  and  tuition  fees  are  required  in  most  cases. 

Secondary  schools  may  be  divided  into  two  general  groups : 
(1)  those  for  general  culture  and  preparatory  to  university 
education ;  (2)  technical  schools  for  trades  and  business  life. 
While,  to  some  extent,  there  are  schools  which  give  instruc- 
tion in  both  directions,  yet  the  two  classes  are,  in  the  main, 
so  distinct  as  to  render  a  separate  discussion  advisable. 

High  Schools  and  Academies.  —  In  the  United  States  the 
secondary  schools  for  general  culture  consist  of  public  high 
schools,  under  the  control  of  municipal  school  boards,  and 
academies,  under  private  management.  Before  1850  the 
latter  constituted  almost  the  only  secondary  schools  in  the 
country;  and  as  late  as  1880  there  were  but  26,609  students 
in  public  high  schools  as  compared  with  75,840  in  academies. 
During  the  last  twenty  years,  however,  there  has  been  an 
astonishing  development  in  the  public  high  schools;  and  by 
1899  there  were  5495  of  these  schools  with  an  aggregate  of 
476,227  students,  as  against  1957  academies  with  103,838 
students.  The  high  schools  are  very  largely  city  institu- 
tions. Cities  of  over  8000  population  contained  731  schools, 
with  224,686  students  and  7563  teachers,  nearly  half  of  the 
total  number  of  high  school  students  in  the  United  States. 
With  few  exceptions  the  public  high  schools  are  coeduca- 
tional ;  and  over  the  whole  country  the  girls  exceed  the  boys 
in  number.  In  the  total  attendance  the  ratio  is  about  four 
girls  to  three  boys;  but  many  boys  leave  before  finishing 
the  course,  and  the  number  of  girl  graduates  in  1899  was 
36,124,  as  compared  with  20,344  boys. 


EDUCATION 


209 


In  the  different  cities  the  relative  number  of  students  in 
the  high  schools  varies  a  good  deal.  The  Southern  cities 
nearly  all  show  a  small  proportion  as  compared  with  the 
Northern  cities.  Among  the  latter,  a  few  cities  are  especially 
noteworthy  for  the  large  proportion  of  high  school  students : 
Washington  (3427),  Providence  (2943),  Kansas  City,  Mo. 
(3116),  and  Worcester  (3124).  Some  of  the  Northern  in- 
dustrial cities,  as  Allegheny,  Scranton,  Camden,  Bridge- 
port, and  Troy,  still  rank  low  in  the  scale.1 

The  German  schools  which  correspond  most  nearly  to 
American  high  schools  and  academies  are  the  G-ymnasia  and 
Reahchulen.  These  institutions,  which  are  distinctly  boys' 
schools,  do  much  more  advanced  work  than  American  high 
schools;  and  while  they  receive  large  government  and  mu- 
nicipal appropriations,  they  also  have  a  large  income  from 
tuition  fees.  Prussia  in  1897-1898  had  220  institutions 
classed  as  state  establishments,  305  municipal  schools,  and  a 
few  others,  with  a  total  of  148, 327  students  2  above  the  pre- 


SCHOOL  STATISTICS,  1899 


Cities 

Number 
of 
Schools 

Teachers 

Pupils 

Average 
Daily 
Attendance 

New  York  

24 

613 

20,736 

11,309 

Chicago    

22 

345 

10,123 

8  415 

Philadelphia                     

6 

221 

8  166 

4  644 

2 

78 

2,107 

1  601 

12 

195 

6,769 

4  815 

6 

79 

2  650 

2  166 

Cleveland      

5 

102 

3  560 

2  931 

Buffalo     

4 

94 

4  H6 

2  526 

5 

68 

2  338 

1  863 

Cincinnati     

4 

62 

2  689 

2  240 

Pittsburg  

3 

60 

1  775 

1  689 

New  Orleans      

4 

52 

1  058 

879 

Detroit     

3 

90 

2  375 

2  048 

Milwaukee    

3 

63 

1  477 

1  424 

3  Statistisches  Handbuch  der  Preussischen  Monarchic,  III,  479,  488. 


210 


MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 


paratory  classes.  In  the  poorer  provinces  of  eastern  Prussia, 
municipal  schools  of  this  grade  are  found  only  in  the  large 
cities,  such  as  Breslau,  Konigsberg,  and  Danzig;  but  in  the 
wealthy  western  provinces  the  proportion  of  municipal 
institutions  rises  as  high  as  50  per  cent.1  In  Bavaria  the 
classical  schools  are  government  institutions,  while  the  other 
secondary  schools  are  under  local  management.  Most  of  the 
secondary  schools  in  Wiirttemberg  are  municipal,  but  receive 
government  support.  Saxony  has  15  distinctly  government 
schools,  35  classed  as  municipal,  and  7  endowed  institutions ; 
but  many  of  the  municipal  institutions  receive  state  aid,  and 
are  subject  to  state  control,  while  the  total  amount  of  mu- 
nicipal appropriations  for  secondary  education  in  Saxony  is 
but  two-thirds  of  that  given  by  the  government. 

The  following  table  gives  statistics  of  secondary  institu- 
tions in  some  of  the  principal  German  cities  for  the  year 
1897-1898 :2  — 

BOYS'  SCHOOLS 


Cities 

Municipal 

Other 

Total 

Schools 

Students 

Schools 

Students 

Schools 

Students 

Berlin    
Hamburg    .... 

Municli 

32 
9 
1 
6 
8 
5 
5 

14,908 

3,911 
316 
3,625 
2,990 
2,673 
1,622 

13 
6 

8 
5 

7 
7 
6 

6,378 
1,638 
5,254 
1,214 
1,859 
1,929 
1,860 

45 
15 
9 
11 
15 
12 
11 

20,286 
5,549 
5,630 
4,839 
4,849 
4,602 
3,482 

Breslau  

Dresden      .... 
Colo°ne 

These  are  all  schools  for  boys  only.  Very  little  is  done 
in  the  way  of  secondary  education  for  girls;  and,  as  the 
table  below  shows,  most  of  the  institutions  for  this  pur- 
pose are  not  municipal  in  character. 


1  Report  of  Commission  on  Secondary  Education,  V,  611. 
*  Statistisches  Jahrbuch  Deutscher  Stadte,  VIII,  169  ff. 


EDUCATION 
GIRLS'   SCHOOLS 


211 


Cities 

Municipal 

Other 

Schools 

Students 

Schools 

Students 

Berlin     

6 

1 

1 
2 
1 
1 

4,207 

661 
517 
685 
253 
617 

1 
1 

8 
14 

11 

673 
88 
1,119 
2,668 

1,873 

Dresden  

Cologne  

French  secondary  schools  include  two  classes  of  insti- 
tutions :  the  Iyc€e8)  under  the  immediate  and  exclusive  con- 
trol of  the  state,  and  the  colleges,  which  receive  some  support 
from  municipal  funds,  but  have  their  directors  and  principal 
officials  appointed  by  the  minister  of  the  interior,  and  are 
under  the  close  supervision  of  the  general  educational 
officials.  There  are  also  many  private  and  church  schools, 
which  have  been  gaining  in  recent  years  at  the  expense  of 
the  public  schools,  and  have  now  the  larger  number  of 
students.  Statistics  for  1898 l  are  as  follows:  — 


OlMB 

Boys 

Girls 

Total 

Schools 

Students 

Schools 

Students 

Schools 

Students 

Lyce'es  

109 
247 

51,892 
32,740 

38 
62 

8,001 
3,401 

147 
309 

59,893 
36,141 

96,034 

Colleges     

Totals     

356 

1 

84,632 
.     97,382 

.  182.014 

100 

11,402 

456 

Private  and  Church,  189' 
Total    . 

Italian  secondary  schools  are  classified  much  like  those  in 
France,  but,  as  shown  in  the  following  table,  the  attendance 
is  much  smaller :  — 


1  Annuaire  Statistique  de  la  France,  1899,  pp.  527  ff . 


212 


MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 


Gymnasia 

Lycees 

Total 

Schools 

Students 

Schools 

Students 

Schools 

Students 

State 

183 
89 
436 

116 
22 
194 

10,945 
1,277 
5,464 

299 
111 
630 

Communal   .... 
Other  

Total                  .     . 

708 

65,515 

332 

17,689 

1040 

73,204 

In  the  other  countries  of  continental  Europe  the  secondary 
institutions  are  mainly  under  government  control,  although 
some  local  schools  receive  municipal  aid.  Belgium  has 
30  communal  institutions  to  130  national;  while  the  gov- 
ernment expenditure  for  secondary  education  is  double  the 
municipal  grants.  There  are  17  state  and  33  municipal  sec- 
ondary schools  in  Norway;  but  most  of  the  latter  receive 
government  subventions,  and  are  under  the  supervision  of 
the  central  department  of  education. 

There  is  no  organized  system  of  secondary  education  in 
Great  Britain.  The  endowed  grammar  schools  and  private 
schools,  for  which  no  complete  records  are  available,  are 
almost  the  only  provisions  offered ;  and  only  in  a  few  cases 
have  either  school  boards  or  the  town  councils  aided  in  the 
work.  In  all  England  there  are  about  80  higher  grade 
schools  maintained  by  the  local  school  boards,  aided  in  some 
cases  by  grants  from  the  borough  councils.  Most  of  these 
are  in  the  county  boroughs;  35  are  in  the  three  northern 
counties  of  Lancaster,  York,  and  Durham,  and  19  others  are 
in  the  eight  midland  counties.  Probably  the  best  of  these  is 
the  Central  Higher  Grade  school  in  Leeds,  with  about  700 
secondary  students,  which  equips  its  pupils  for  the  university 
examinations.  In  Scotland,  secondary  education  in  the 
public  schools  is  much  more  advanced  than  in  England ;  and 
most  school  boards  in  urban  communities  provide  for  sec- 
ondary as  well  as  elementary  instruction. 


Technical  Schools.  —  Industrial  education,  as  distinct  from 
general  culture,  has  developed  mainly  within  the  last  three 


EDUCATION 

decades.  Its  beginnings  are  usually  dated  from  the  estab- 
lishment, in  1776,  of  manual  training  at  a  Moravian  school 
for  boys  in  Saxony,  whence  it  spread  slowly  in  Germany. 
The  municipal  movement  in  this  direction  began  at  Ghent 
in  1817.  By  1844  there  were  five  municipal  manual  train- 
ing schools  in  Belgium ;  and  three  years  later  a  royal  decree 
recognized  these  schools  and  provided  for  government  super- 
vision. After  1860  many  new  schools  were  established  in 
the  Belgian  cities.  During  the  seventies  the  general  move- 
ment spread  to  Holland,  and  a  few  schools  were  established 
in  France  at  some  of  the  larger  cities,  as  Paris,  Havre  (in 
1866),  Lyons  (in  1857),  Rheims,  and  Lille  (in  1872).  In  the 
eighties  the  number  of  manual  training  and  secondary  tech- 
nical schools  in  France  and  Germany  rapidly  increased,  and 
similar  schools  began  to  be  established  in  England  and  the 
United  States.  The  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century 
witnessed  a  continued  growth  in  all  the  principal  countries. 
In  this  development  all  sorts  and  complications  of  state, 
municipal,  and  private  action  are  to  be  found. 

Secondary  technical  education  is  most  highly  developed  in 
Germany,  and  here,  too,  municipal  schools  and  municipal  as- 
sistance are  most  prominent.  A  consular  report  of  1899  states 
that  there  are  860  schools  in  605  places  in  Germany  where 
manual  training  is  taught.  Prussia  has  570  such  schools  in 
435  places,  mainly  in  the  industrial  districts  of  upper  Silesia 
and  the  Rhine  province.1  There  are  over  100  schools  of  this, 
kind  in  the  kingdom  of  Saxony,  and  nearly  50  in  Bavaria. 

Berlin  has,  of  course,  the  largest  equipment  of  schools  for 
industrial  training.  In  1895  there  were  28  continuation 
schools,  with  12,000  students,2  teaching  modern  languages, 
mathematics,  bookkeeping,  shorthand,  drawing,  and  model- 
ling ;  and  also  about  15  trade  schools  for  carpenters,  house- 
painters,  saddlers,  smiths,  wheelmakers,  shoemakers,  glaziers, 
masons,  and  others,  with  9000  students,  and  municipal 
grants  of  $129,  OOO.3  Small  fees  are  charged,  and  some  finan- 

1  Consular  Eeports,  November,  1899. 

2  Statistisches  Jahrbuch  Deutscher  Stddte,  V,  196. 

8  Report  of  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  1895-1896,  II,  1220. 


214  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

cial  aid  is  received  from  various  trade  associations ;  but  the 
main  support  of  the  schools  are  the  municipal  grants. 
Hamburg  has  9  trade  schools  with  4140  pupils;  Dresden, 
including  both  trade  and  manual  training  schools,  has  28 
institutions  with  over  4000  pupils.  All  the  other  impor- 
tant German  cities  have  made  provisions  in  this  field,  either 
by  the  establishment  of  schools  for  manual  training  only,  or 
by  special  industrial  instruction  in  the  advanced  schools. 

In  Belgium  there  were  about  150  manual  training  and 
industrial  schools  for  boys,  with  20,033  pupils  in  1895-1896, 
and  225  housewifery  schools  for  girls,  with  9539  pupils. 
The  municipal  grants  to  these  amounted  to  $100,071,  which 
was  somewhat  less  than  the  government  grants,  and  more 
than  a  fourth  of  their  total  income.  Small  municipal  appro- 
priations are  also  made  to  the  Higher  Commercial  Institute 
at  Antwerp,  and  to  the  School  of  Mines  and  Industry  at 
Mons.  These  institutions  are  governed  by  local  boards, 
representing  the  various  public  authorities.  Generally  the 
governor  of  the  province  and  the  burgomaster  of  the  city 
are  ex-officio  members,  and  there  are  two  members  chosen  by 
the  municipal  council,  two  by  the  executive  committee  of 
the  province,  and  two  by  the  central  government. 

In  1893  there  were  18  trade  schools  in  Holland,  two  at 
Rotterdam,  and  one  each  at  Amsterdam,  The  Hague,  Utrecht, 
Groningen,  Harlem,  and  smaller  towns.  At  Amsterdam, 
Rotterdam,  The  Hague,  and  Arnheim  there  are  industrial 
schools  for  girls.  All  were  established  at  first  by  private 
initiative,  but  are  now  supported  wholly  or  partly  by  mu- 
nicipal and  government  subsidies.  The  board  of  directors 
in  Rotterdam  is  chosen  by  the  city  council  from  a  double  list 
of  nominations,  submitted  by  the  private  association  which 
established  the  school.  The  instruction  in  these  schools 
is,  for  the  most  part,  of  a  general  nature,  including  arithme- 
tic, algebra,  geometry,  physics,  mechanics,  industrial  econ- 
omy, and  drawing;  but  there  are  also  special  courses  in 
electricity,  chemistry,  and  other  applied  sciences. 

The  French  schools  of  this  character  are  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  minister  of  commerce  and  industry.  In  addi- 


EDUCATION  215 

tion  to  many  national  technical  schools,  there  were,  in  1899, 
25  schools  of  commerce  and  industry,  with  3900  pupils, 
which  received  $  115, 000  in  municipal  subsidies,  and  about 
the  same  amount  from  the  general  government.1  There  are, 
also,  many  other  schools  receiving  only  municipal  aid,  for 
which  exact  records  are  not  at  hand. 

In  Italy  there  were  387  technical  schools  in  1896,  with 
33,741  students.  Of  these  181,  with  21,591  students,  were 
state  institutions,  and  115,  with  8854  students,  were  mu- 
nicipal.2 

Manual  training  schools  have  been  established  in  about 
half  of  the  cantons  in  Switzerland,  including  Ziirich,  Geneva, 
Berne,  and  Basel.  All  of  the  expenses  of  the  Geneva  school 
are  paid  from  the  public  funds,  while  other  schools  receive 
grants  from  the  federal  and  cantonal  authorities.  There  are, 
also,  municipal  watch-making  schools  at  Geneva,  Neufch&tel, 
and  several  smaller  places,  and  a  municipal  school  of  art  at 
Geneva. 

Even  in  the  Northern  countries  of  Europe  there  has  been 
some  municipal  activity  along  this  line.  In  Sweden  there 
were,  in  1892,  29  technical  schools  receiving  municipal  aid. 
Manual  training  is  obligatory  in  the  schools  of  Norway  and 
Finland,  and  in  the  latter  country  there  are  trade  schools  in 
12  towns  receiving  state  and  municipal  aid.3 

Most  of  the  technical  schools  in  Great  Britain  have  appeared 
since  the  passage  of  the  Technical  Instruction  Act  of  1889. 
Public  aid  is  given,  not  by  the  school  boards,  but  by  the  town 
councils.  In  1895  all  of  the  county  boroughs  and  county 
councils  spent  part  of  certain  government  subventions  for 
technical  education.  In  addition,  16  county  boroughs,  72 
boroughs,  and  123  urban  districts  made  small  grants  out 
of  local  rates  for  this  purpose.  The  total  expenditure  by 
local  authorities  on  technical  education  in  1894-1895  was 
$3,650,000.  Most  of  this  was  in  the  shape  of  subsidies  to 
private  institutions,  but  several  of  the  large  cities  have  dis- 

1  Annuaire  Statistique  de  la  France,  1899,  pp.  612,  613. 

2  Report  of  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  1898-1899,  p.  869. 
8  Consular  Reports,  XLIII,  209. 


216  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

tinct  municipal  schools.  The  Manchester  corporation  main- 
tains a  spinning  and  weaving  school,  a  school  of  art  and 
design,  several  schools  for  the  mechanical  arts,  engineering, 
and  trades;  and  also  evening  classes  in  commercial  and 
industrial  and  engineering  subjects,  as  well  as  girls'  classes 
in  dressmaking,  millinery,  and  domestic  pursuits.  All  to- 
gether, property  valued  at  $1,000,000  is  used  for  these  pur- 
poses. Birmingham  has  erected  a  building  for  technical 
education  at  a  cost  of  $450,000.  In  this  institution,  accom- 
modating 2600  pupils,  special  attention  is  given  to  the 
engineering,  chemical,  and  electrical  industries.  Important 
municipal  schools  have  also  been  established  at  Bradford,  Sal- 
ford,  Oldham,  Nottingham,  Kingston-upon-Hull,  Portsmouth, 
and  West  Ham.  Municipal  subsidies  to  private  schools 
are  given  by  Liverpool,  Glasgow,  Sheffield,  and  Leeds.1 

The  first  manual  training  school  in  the  United  States  was 
established  at  St.  Louis,  as  a  sub-department  of  Washing- 
ton University,  in  1878.  The  first  municipal  school  was 
opened,  in  1884,  at  Baltimore.  By  the  last  report  there 
were  125  manual  training  schools,  with  1077  teachers  and 
38,621  students,  in  the  United  States.  In  addition  to  these, 
most  of  which  are  private  institutions,  manual  training  was 
also  given  in  the  public  schools  of  170  cities  —  a  Massa- 
chusetts law  requiring  such  instruction  in  all  the  cities  of 
that  state  having  a  population  of  25,000  and  over.  Edu- 
cation in  commercial  and  business  methods  is  also  given 
in  many  municipal  high  schools;  but  distinct  "business 
schools  "  are  usually  private  institutions.  Three  hundred 
and  twenty  such  schools  were  reported  in  1899,  with  an 
enrolment  of  70,186  students. 

There  are  very  few  instances  of  municipal  trade  schools 
in  America.  The  textile  schools  recently  established  at 
Lowell  and  New  Bedford  are  almost  unique.  To  the  Lowell 
school  the  city  gave  $25,000,  the  state  (Massachusetts)  an 
equal  amount,  and  private  subscriptions  raised  the  total 
endowment  to  $100,000.  The  school  consists  of  a  textile 
mill,  which  is  operated  by  the  students,  under  the  instruc- 

1  Donald,  Municipal  Tear  Book  for  1900. 


EDUCATION  217 

tion  of  experts  in  the  various  processes ;  and  its  object  is  to 
train  men  to  become  designers  and  foremen  in  the  textile 
industries.  Technical  instruction  in  the  engineering  sci- 
ences is  furnished  in  private  and  state  institutions  (often  as 
part  of  a  university),  but  there  is  no  important  example  of 
municipal  aid. 

Colleges  and  Universities.  — Educational  institutions  of  col- 
lege or  university  rank  are  seldom  exclusively  municipal,  and 
there  are  but  few  cases  where  such  institutions  receive  any 
municipal  aid.  The  Belgian  universities  at  Ghent,  Liege, 
and  Louvain  are  partly  supported  by  the  municipal  authori- 
ties. In  England  the  municipal  authorities  of  Kingston-upon- 
Hull  and  Southampton  are  represented  on  the  governing 
boards  of  local  colleges;  Nottingham  maintains  a  college 
which  is  managed  by  a  board  of  three  coopted  members  and 
representatives  from  Oxford  and  Cambridge  universities; 
and  the  great  provincial  cities,  Liverpool,  Manchester, 
Birmingham,  and  Leeds,  grant  aid  to  local  colleges.  The 
College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  maintained  by  the  cor- 
poration at  an  expenditure  of  $200,000  a  year,  has  been 
little  more  than  a  secondary  school ;  but,  with  the  develop- 
ment of  the  public  high  schools  in  that  city,  it  is  likely  to 
become  an  important  example  of  a  municipal  college. 

PUBLIC   LIBRARIES 

Libraries  or  collections  of  books  for  the  exclusive  use  of 
advanced  scholars  have  been  owned  and  maintained  by  some 
European  cities  since  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages.  But 
municipal  libraries  for  general  use,  and  intended  as  part  of 
the  educational  facilities  for  the  entire  community,  are  another 
development  of  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
The  first  action  was  taken  by  the  city  of  Boston,  in  1847, 
when,  through  the  influence  of  Mayor  Josiah  Quincy, 
authority  was  secured  from  the  Massachusetts  legislature, 
and  the  new  institution  inaugurated.1  In  1855-1857  a  public 

1  Fletcher,  Public  Libraries  in  America. 


218  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

library  building  was  erected  at  a  cost,  including  land,  of 
$365, 000. l  The  example  of  Boston  was  soon  followed  by 
other  cities  in  New  England;  and  by  the  end  of  thirty  years 
similar  institutions  had  been  established  in  most  of  the  large 
cities  in  the  Northern  states.  The  movement  in  Great 
Britain  began  about  the  same  time  as  that  in  America.  In 
1850  a  parliamentary  act  was  passed  permitting  boroughs  to 
establish  libraries,  and  in  1852  the  first  municipal  public 
libraries  were  opened  at  Manchester  and  Liverpool.  By 
1870  the  act  had  been  adopted  in  forty  places,  of  all  sizes ; 
and  by  1883  there  were  133  public  libraries,  only  four  of 
which  were  in  London.  The  last  two  decades  have  been 
marked  by  an  astonishing  development  of  municipal  public 
libraries  in  these  two  countries,  both  in  the  expansion  of  the 
libraries  in  the  large  cities,  and  in  the  extension  of  library 
facilities  to  small  communities.  In  the  same  time  there  has 
been  a  considerable  number  of  municipal  libraries  established 
in  other  countries. 

In  1896  there  were  in  the  United  States  627  libraries  of 
over  3000  volumes  each,  entirely  free  to  the  public.  Two- 
thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  libraries  were  in  the  North 
Atlantic  states,  and  one-fourth  in  the  North  Central  states. 
In  New  England  libraries  are  found  in  the  smallest  commu- 
nities ;  in  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  almost  every  town 
has  one.  Some  of  these  libraries  are  maintained  entirely  by 
private  associations,  while  many  have  received  large  gifts 
and  endowments,  in  addition  to  municipal  aid.  A  frequent 
method  of  contributing  private  aid  to  libraries  is  the  presenta- 
tion of  a  building,  with  the  provision  that  the  municipality 
furnish  the  books  and  support;  in  a  few  cases,  however,  the 
gifts  have  included  the  original  equipment  of  books. 

Strictly  municipal  libraries  are  maintained  by  two-thirds 
of  the  cities  with  over  30,000  population  (85  out  of  129), 
and  also  by  many  smaller  cities.  Among  cities  of  100,000 
population  and  over,  only  three  are  without  municipal  pub- 
lic libraries:  Louisville,  Providence,  and  Memphis.  The 
largest  of  the  purely  municipal  institutions  is  that  of  Bos- 
*  Matthews,  City  Government  of  Boston,  p.  71. 


EDUCATION  219 

ton.  This  contains  780,000  volumes,  and  in  1899  circulated 
1,250,000  volumes.  The  new  public  library  building,  com- 
pleted in  1895  at  a  cost  of  $2,650,000,  is  one  of  the  noted 
architectural  structures  in  America.  Besides  this  central 
building,  there  are  10  branch  libraries,  with  reading  rooms, 
in  different  parts  of  the  city,  and  20  additional  stations  for 
the  delivery  of  books.  The  Chicago  municipal  library  has 
300, 000  volumes,  and  an  annual  home  circulation  of  1, 700, 000. 
The  municipal  libraries  of  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and 
Cincinnati  have  each  about  200,000  volumes;  and  the  cir- 
culation varies  from  1,800,000  volumes  in  Philadelphia  to 
400,000  in  Cincinnati.  In  all  of  these  cities,  and  also  in 
the  large  cities  where  there  are  no  municipal  libraries,  there 
are  large  public  libraries  controlled  by  other  authorities.  In 
Washington  the  municipal  district  library  is  comparatively 
unimportant;  but  the  government  libraries,  including  the 
Congressional  Library,  with  an  aggregate  of  2,500,000  vol- 
umes, give  that  city  the  largest  library  equipment  of  any  city 
except  New  York,  although  in  point  of  value  the  various 
libraries  in  and  around  Boston  excel  those  of  Washington. 
In  New  York  there  are  only  4  small  libraries  under  municipal 
control ;  but  there  are  over  60  private  libraries,  large  and  small, 
aggregating  all  together  nearly  4,000,000  volumes,  most  of 
which  receive  municipal  aid.  Several  of  the  principal  libra- 
ries have  been  consolidated  into  the  New  York  public  library, 
for  which  the  city  is  now  constructing  a  building;  but  the 
management  will  remain  under  a  board  of  coopted  trustees. 

The  management  of  municipal  libraries  is,  in  most  cases, 
vested  in  a  board  of  trustees,  selected  by  the  mayor  or  city 
council;  but  there  are  numerous  exceptions.  The  Cleveland 
library  board  is  selected  by  the  school  board,  and  in  Cincin- 
nati, Indianapolis,  Erie,  and  other  places,  the  school  board 
has  immediate  supervision.  Most  of  the  states  of  the  middle 
West  follow  Illinois  in  providing  for  elected  library  boards, 
which  occupy  a  similar  autonomous  position  to  that  of  the 
city  school  boards. 

In  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  there  are  now  about  350 
municipal  libraries,  containing  in  all  over  5,000,000  books, 


220  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

with  an  annual  circulation  of  27,000,000,  and  an  annual 
attendance  of  60,000,000  readers.  Only  two  cities  of  over 
100,000  population  (Glasgow  and  Burnley)  have  no  munici- 
pal libraries;  6  of  the  65  places  with  over  50,000  population 
have  none;  and  of  the  303  boroughs  more  than  half  have 
none.  The  36  London  libraries,  each  of  which  is  under 
separate  management,  undoubtedly  aggregate  the  largest 
number  of  volumes  in  municipal  libraries  in  any  British 
city.  The  most  important  library  system  under  a  single 
management  is  at  Manchester.  Here  there  is  a  central  refer- 
ence library,  12  lending  libraries,  and  5  additional  reading 
rooms,  with  an  aggregate  of  280,000  volumes,  and  a  circula- 
tion of  1,868,000.  Birmingham  has  a  reference  library  of 
143,000  volumes,  a  central  lending  library,  and  9  district 
libraries,  with  a  total  circulation  of  1,300,000  volumes. 
Leeds  has  21  branch  libraries  and  37  juvenile  libraries,  many 
of  them  located  at  the  public  schools  and  police  stations.  The 
total  number  of  volumes  is  about  200,000,  and  the  annual 
circulation  about  1,000,000.  Nottingham  has  a  central 
library  with  14  branches,  and  during  1899,  382,120  books 
were  issued,  and  the  total  attendance  at  libraries  and  read- 
ing-rooms was  2, 253, 211.  Glasgow  has  no  municipal  library ; 
but  there  are  two  large  reference  libraries,  one  of  which 
receives  a  grant  from  the  corporation. 

If  we  compare  the  public  libraries  in  Great  Britain  with 
those  of  the  United  States,  municipal  activity  is  more  promi- 
nent in  the  former  country.  There  are  fewer  important  cities 
with  no  municipal  libraries,  and  private  gifts  and  endow- 
ments are  not  so  important.  The  American  public  libraries 
usually  show  a  larger  number  of  volumes,  but  the  circulation 
is  larger  in  Great  Britain  for  cities  of  the  same  population. 

More  than  300  cities  and  towns  in  France  have  public 
libraries.  But  these  are  generally  much  less  important  than 
in  British  and  American  cities.  Paris  has  a  well-developed 
system  of  lending  libraries ;  there  are  100  offices  in  different 
parts  of  the  city,  under  the  direction  of  local  arrondissement 
boards,  with  a  central  municipal  bureau  for  the  entire  city. 
The  municipal  library  of  Lyons,  which  is  over  200  years  old, 


EDUCATION  221 

has  200, 000  volumes,  2  main  buildings,  and  2  branches,  with 
a  total  circulation  of  120,000  volumes.  The  libraries  at 
Rouen  and  Rheinis  have  each  about  120,000  volumes.  But 
even  where  there  is  a  considerable  collection  of  books,  there 
is  comparatively  little  popular  use.  Nice,  with  80,000  vol- 
umes, has  a  circulation  of  only  10,000  a  year;  and  Brest, 
with  54,000  volumes,  only  6000  a  year. 

So,  too,  in  Germany,  almost  every  large  city  has  munici- 
pal libraries,  but  these  are  not  used  by  the  people,  and  only 
in  a  few  cities  are  there  people's  libraries  for  the  general 
circulation  of  books.  At  Berlin,  in  addition  to  the  govern- 
ment and  university  libraries,  there  are  27  small  people's 
libraries,  with  100,000  books  and  an  annual  circulation  of 
375,000.  Dresden  has  a  people's  library,  with  12  stations, 
42,000  volumes,  and  an  annual  circulation  of  150,000. 
Cologne,  Leipzig,  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  Diisseldorf,  Mann- 
heim, Cassel,  Duisburg,  and  Wiesbaden  give  small  munici- 
pal subsidies  to  private  libraries.1  But  even  these  instances 
are  exceptional.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  total  number 
of  books  loaned  from  the  people's  libraries  in  Germany  is 
only  about  4,000,000  a  year,  as  compared  with  27,000,000  in 
Great  Britain  and  a  still  larger  number  in  the  United  States. 

The  other  countries  of  continental  Europe  show  about  the 
same  condition  as  France  and  Germany.  All  of  the  impor- 
tant cities  have  municipal  libraries,  few  of  which  have  any 
large  popular  circulation.  The  library  at  Antwerp,  with 
77,000  volumes  and  a  circulation  of  91,000  volumes,  is 
among  the  most  active.  Rotterdam  has  no  municipal  library, 
and  Amsterdam  has  only  an  interest  in  the  university  library. 
Bologna  (Italy)  has  a  municipal  library  of  240,000  volumes, 
and  an  annual  circulation  of  33,000.  There  are  no  municipal 
libraries  in  Rome,  Milan,  or  Florence. 

MUSEUMS   OF   ART   AND   SCIENCE 

In  addition  to  the  large  government  museums,  the  large 
cities  of  France,  Belgium,  and  Switzerland  almost  invariably 
possess  municipal  art  galleries  and  museums,  with  valuable 
1  Statistisches  Jahrbuch  Deutscher  Stadte,  VI,  116. 


222  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

collections  of  paintings.  Antwerp  has  three  municipal  art 
galleries,  especially  rich  in  the  works  of  the  famous  Flemish 
painters.  In  Brussels,  Antwerp,  and  Liege  there  are  acade- 
mies of  fine  arts  under  the  control  and  partial  support  of  the 
municipal  authorities.  In  Italy  the  national  government  has 
assumed  control  of  most  of  the  public  art  collections ;  but  in 
Rome,  Venice,  Turin,  and  a  few  other  large  cities  there  are 
still  important  municipal  galleries.  In  the  other  continental 
countries,  too,  the  government  owns  all  the  leading  art  gal- 
leries ;  but  there  are  also  many  municipal  collections  in  the 
large  cities  of  Germany,  Austria,  and  Holland,  and  even  in 
some  cities  of  Northern  Europe. 

Most  of  the  county  boroughs  in  Great  Britain  have  either 
an  art  gallery  or  a  public  museum,  and  many  have  both. 
Nottingham  and  Norwich  each  utilize  a  local  mediaeval  castle 
for  housing  and  exhibiting  the  municipal  collection  of  works 
of  art,  together  with  articles  of  antiquarian  and  scientific 
interest.  In  connection  with  such  institutions,  Birmingham, 
Manchester,  and  other  large  boroughs  have  schools  of  art. 
The  art  collections  of  the  British  boroughs,  however,  fall  far 
short  in  value  of  those  in  the  leading  continental  cities. 

In  the  United  States  distinctly  municipal  art  museums  are 
very  exceptional.  The  most  important  are  at  Philadelphia 
and  Providence.  Small  art  collections  and  exhibitions  in 
connection  with  the  municipal  libraries  are  found  in  Minne- 
apolis, Milwaukee,  Springfield,  Mass.,  and  a  few  other  cities. 
More  frequent  are  instances  of  municipal  aid  to  museums 
under  private  control.  New  York  has  furnished  land  in  the 
public  parks,  and  also  constructed  expensive  buildings,  for 
the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  and  the  American  Museum 
of  Natural  History.  Boston  gave  the  land  on  which  the 
Fine  Arts  Museum  has  been  erected.  In  general,  however, 
municipal  action  in  this  field  has  been  deficient,  nor  is  the 
deficiency  made  good  by  government  institutions. 

MUSIC   AND  DRAMA 

Many  of  the  cities  of  continental  Europe  have  municipal 
theatres  and  opera  houses.  These  are  most  frequent  in  Ger- 


EDUCATION  223 

many,  where,  in  addition  to  government  opera  houses  in 
Berlin,  Dresden,  Hanover,  Brunswick,  Mannheim,  and  most 
of  the  ducal  capitals,  there  are  nearly  forty  municipal  thea- 
tres,1 including  those  at  Breslau,  Cologne,  and  Frankfort-on- 
the-Main.  In  France,  Belgium,  Austria,  and  Russia  many 
of  the  large  cities  own  theatres  or  opera  houses,  as  do  also 
Rome,  Milan,  and  other  Italian  cities,  Geneva,  Basel,  Lisbon, 
Athens,  and  even  small  Greek  cities,  such  as  Patras  and 
Corfu.  The  Paris  theatres,  as  well  as  the  Grand  Opera 
House,  receive  large  grants  from  the  French  government. 

These  municipal  establishments  are  usually  leased  to  a 
managing  company  or  director,  often  for  a  nominal  rent, 
while  the  city  either  guarantees  a  minimum  profit  or  pays  a 
fixed  subvention.  Subsidies  to  private  establishments  are 
also  frequent  in  cities  where  there  is  no  municipal  theatre, 
and  sometimes  even  where  there  is  such,  as  at  Florence, 
Barmen,  Crefeld,  Christiania,  and  Bergen. 

As  a  result  of  the  municipal  aid,  prices  are  so  low  that  the 
performances  are  within  the  reach  of  every  one.  Thus  at 
Marseilles  the  rates  for  the  opera,  fixed  by  the  municipal 
council,  are  from  14  cents  to  $1.50.  At  Nice  the  prices  for 
ordinary  performances  are  from  10  cents  to  fl.60;  and  on 
Sundays  these  are  reduced  by  one-half.  On  certain  holidays 
free  performances  are  given  at  the  municipal  theatres  of 
Paris,  Brussels,  and  other  large  cities. 

The  British  and  American  cities  have  in  no  case  estab- 
lished a  municipal  theatre  or  opera  house  ;  but  many  of 
them  have  taken  a  small  step  in  this  direction  by  establish- 
ing popular  musical  concerts.  About  one-half  of  the  British 
county  boroughs  provide  for  public  concerts  in  the  parks 
during  the  summer  months,  while  a  smaller  number  arrange 
also  for  indoor  popular  concerts  and  organ  recitals  during 
the  winter  months.  Glasgow  has  been  the  most  active  in 
the  latter  respect.  Small  fees  (lc?.  to  3d.)  are  charged 
(though  a  number  of  free  tickets  are  also  distributed), 
which  pay  for  the  expenses  and  a  small  surplus  as  rent  for 
the  use  of  the  municipal  halls. 

1  Zeitschrift  der  Konig.  Preuss.  Stat.  Bureau,  XXXVI,  270. 


224  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

Free  public  concerts  in  the  parks  are  furnished  in  a  number 
of  American  cities.  New  York  city  spends  $40,000  a  year 
for  this  purpose ;  Philadelphia,  $15,000  ;  and  smaller  sums 
appear  in  the  budgets  of  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Boston,  Buf- 
falo, Denver,  Omaha,  Syracuse,  Worcester,  Allegheny,  and 
some  smaller  cities.  Boston  in  1898  began  a  system  of 
popular  municipal  indoor  concerts  during  the  winter;  but 
this  feature  has  not  yet  been  adopted  in  America  to  any 
large  extent. 


CHAPTER  XI 
MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.    I 

Authorities. — A.  T.  BYRNE:  Treatise  on  Highway  Construction.  —  E.  C. 
LOWE  :  Pavements  and  Roads  (1891). — H.  P.  BOULNOIS:  The  Municipal 
and  Sanitary  Engineer's  Handbook  (1892).  — GEO.  W.  TILLSON  :  Street 
Pavements  and  Paving  Materials.  —  A.  P.  ROCKWELL  :  Roads  and  Pave- 
ments in  France  (1896).  — N.  S.  SHALEB  :  American  Highways.  — LAW 
AND  CLARK:  Roads  and  Streets  (1877). — M.  MERRIMAN  :  Elements  of 
Sanitary  Engineering.  —  HAZEN  :  Purification  of  Water  Supplies. — MANS- 
FIELD MERRIAM  :  The  Elements  of  Sanitary  Engineering.  —  WILLIAM 
R.  BILLINGS:  Some  Details  of  Waterworks  Construction.  —  GEO.  E. 
WARING,  JR.  :  Sanitary  Drainage  of  Houses  and  Towns.  —  H.  N.  OGDEN, 
C.  E. :  Sewer  Design.  —  GEO.  E.  WARING,  JR.  :  Modern  Methods  of  Sew- 
age Disposal.  —  GEO.  W.  RAFTER  and  M.  N.  BAKER  :  Sewage  Disposal 
in  the  United  States.  —  E.  C.  S.  MOORE  :  Sanitary  Engineering.  — 
W.  F.  GOODHUE  :  Municipal  Improvements,  a  Manual  for  the  Municipal 
Officer.  —  American  Law  Review,  26  :  520. 

STREETS,  BRIDGES,  AND  TUNNELS 

Journal  Franklin  Institute,  36,  103  :  262.  —  Van  Nostran&s  Eclectic 
Engineering  Magazine,  22  :  425  ;  24  :  237.  —  Popular  Science  Monthly,  7  : 
80-89;  56:524-539.—  Journal  Eoyal  Statistical  Society,  9:204;  27:378. 

—  Journal  Society  of  Arts,  42  :  61.  —  Engineering  News,  23  :  292  ;  25  :  281. 

—  Paving  and  Municipal  Engineering,  18  : 356.  —  Engineering  Magazine,  8 : 
1014  ;  11 :  844-866  ;  12  : 59,  245 ;  15 :  905-921.  —  Revue  Municipal,  3  : 209.  — 
Engineering  Record,  40 : 625  ;  41 : 105.— Consular  Reports,  60  : 123.— Trans- 
actions American  Society  Civil  Engineers,  29:718.  —  Review  of  Reviews, 
20  :  60-64.  —  Century  Magazine,  60  : 12.  —  Municipal  Affairs,  3  : 650-663. 

—  Scientific  American,  82  : 217  ;  83  : 69,  114,  167,  226,  322. 

SEWERS  AND  SEWAGE  DISPOSAL 

Engineering  News,  Dec.  3, 17,  1881.  —  Engineering  Record,  Nov.  10, 1894. 

—  Appleton's  Cyclopedia,  art.  Sewage.  —  V.  HUGO  :  Les  Miserables,  vol.  5, 
bk.  2.  —  Hunt's  Merchant's  Magazine,  12  :  53  ;  29  : 182.  —  Engineering  Maga- 
zine, 1 :  831 ;  2  : 496 ;  8  : 1007  ;  18  :  774-775.  —  Harper's  Magazine,  71  :  577. 

—  Century  Magazine,  25  :  939.  —Nation,  58  : 239  ;  59  : 221.  —Journal  Royal 
Statistical  Society,  7  : 143.  —  Journal  Society  of  Arts,  25  :  389  ;  38  :  66,  142  ; 
47  : 683.  —Journal  Franklin  Institute,  76  : 217,  289,  361 ;  77  : 1 ;  114  : 186-454. 

Q  225 


226  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

—  Eclectic  Engineering  Magazine,  13  : 32  ;  18  : 272 ;  19  : 124 ;  22  : 382  ;  23  : 49. 

—  American  Architect,  11  : 137,  159,  173;  13:76;  16  :64,  79,  116,  179,  185; 
19  : 272  ;  20  : 126  ;  27  : 156. 

SCAVENGING 

GEO.  E.  WARING,  JR.  :  Street  Cleaning  and  Its  Effects.  —  Popular  Science 
Monthly,  38  :  748.— Engineering  News,  April  11, 1895.  —  Eclectic  Engineering 
Magazine,  19  : 103.  —  Engineering  Magazine,  13  :99.  —  McClure's  Magazine, 
9 :  911.  —  Review  of  Reviews,  15  : 437. 

PARKS 

Atlantic  Monthly,  79:86. — Engineering  Magazine,  9:253.  —  Scribner^s 
Magazine,  27  : 637-640.  —  Nineteenth  Century,  21 :  677  ;  23  : 189  ;  46  : 26.  — 
American  Architect,  62 : 11,  27,  35. —  Contemporary  Eeview,  50 : 387. —  Cham- 
bers's  Journal,  68  :  337.  —  Blackwood's  Magazine,  46  : 212  ;  61 :  3W.  —  New 
Review,  7 : 701. 

THE  matters  to  be  considered  under  this  main  head  are 
the  construction  and  maintenance  of  streets  and  bridges ; 
sewer  systems  and  other  means  for  the  removal  of  wastes ; 
parks  and  other  means  of  recreation  for  crowded  popula- 
tions; the  supply  of  water,  gas,  and  electric  light;  com- 
mercial and  trade  facilities  (such  as  markets,  docks,  and 
harbors);  and  the  means  for  rapid  local  transit.  These 
various  fields  of  municipal  activity  have  several  points  in 
common.  They  present  a  side  of  public  activity  which  is 
confined  almost  entirely  to  the  large  cities,  and  they  include 
thus  those  functions  of  distinctly  local  interest.  They  have 
also  the  common  characteristic  that  they  are  works  of  mu- 
nicipal engineering,  and  thus  marked  off  from  police,  chari- 
ties, and  education.  Lastly,  in  most  cases  they  are  functions 
connected  with  the  construction  and  use  of  public  highways 
and  other  property  open  for  the  use  of  the  entire  community. 

These  activities  may  be  divided  into  two  groups  :  1,  those 
which  are  for  the  most  part  maintained  from  the  proceeds 
of  public  taxation ;  and  2,  those  maintained  by  charges  on 
consumption.  The  latter  group  include  the  so-called  mu- 
nicipal monopolies ;  and  the  discussion  on  these  subjects,  in 
the  next  chapter,  will  include  the  questions  of  municipal 
ownership  and  the  relations  of  municipal  authorities  to 
private  companies,  as  well  as  the  systems  of  direct  municipal 
activity.  The  present  chapter  deals  with  the  first  group. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I  227 

THE   CITY  HIGHWAYS 

Street  Pavements 

Modern  city  streets  present  radically  different  problems 
from  those  of  country  highways.  The  concentration  of 
heavy  traffic  in  urban  communities  necessitates  a  much 
firmer  and  more  durable  street  surface,  while  the  concentra- 
tion of  wealth  in  such  communities  makes  possible  expensive 
pavements  which  add  to  the  convenience  and  comfort  of  city 
life.  Nevertheless,  the  fundamental  features  of  street  con- 
struction do  not  differ  from  those  for  highway  construction ; 
and  in  noting  the  historical  development  of  such  public 
works,  the  earlier  references  must  deal  largely  with  country 
highways,  which  preceded  in  time,  and  led  up  to,  special 
city  streets. 

Probably  most  of  the  ancient  cities  had  some  form  of  street 
pavements.  Recent  investigations  in  Mesopotamia  have 
shown  that  in  the  old  Assyrian  city  of  Sargon  the  principal 
streets  had  paved  causeways  forty  feet  wide,  composed  of 
small,  irregular,  and  not  durable  stones,  which  were,  how- 
ever, better  than  any  pavement  now  to  be  found  in  that 
region.1  So,  too,  in  Thebes,  Jerusalem,  and  the  Greek  cities 
there  were  paved  streets.  The  three-mile  road  from  the  port 
of  Piraeus  to  Athens  had  a  stone  pavement.  But  the  first 
attempt  at  any  extensive  system  of  road  construction  seems 
to  have  been  made  by  the  Carthaginians ;  and  it  was  prob- 
ably from  the  roads  of  Carthage  that  the  Romans  learned  the 
military  advantages  of  good  roads,  and  also  the  art  of  road 
construction.  Appian  Way,  constructed  312  B.C.,  was  the 
first  of  the  famous  Roman  roads  which,  under  the  empire, 
reached  out  to  all  parts  of  the  Roman  dominion  and  mark 
the  highest  point  in  road  construction  until  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. The  streets  of  cities  were  also  paved,  although  these 
works  were  not  so  noteworthy  as  the  military  highways. 
According  to  Livy,  various  streets  in  Rome  were  paved  in 
the  second  century  B.C.;  and  in  the  ruined  cities  of  Pompeii 
and  Herculaneum  street  pavements  of  lava  blocks  have  been 

1  Perrot  and  Chipiez,  History  of  Art  in  Chaldea  and  Assyria,  pp.  63-77. 


228  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

discovered,  which  must  have  been  constructed  before  the 
destruction  of  these  cities  in  79  A.D.  Old  paving  stones  in 
Rome,  excavated  by  the  French  in  1813,  were  from  twelve  to 
fourteen  inches  deep,  four  to  five  square  feet  in  surface  area, 
and  poly  angular  in  shape. 

After  the  breakdown  of  Roman  civilization  there  were  few 
or  no  important  works  of  either  street  or  road  construction 
for  many  centuries.  Streets  in  Cordova,  Spain,  were  paved 
in  950  A.D.,  at  the  height  of  the  Moorish  power  there.  The 
first  street  pavement  in  Paris  was  that  laid  by  order  of  Philip 
Augustus  in  1185,  when  the  city  had  a  population  of  200,000. 
In  the  thirteenth  century  brick  pavements  were  constructed 
in  several  cities  in  the  low  countries. 

The  earliest  references  to  street  pavements  in  London  are  in 
some  acts  of  Parliament  of  the  fourteenth  century  providing 
for  paving  the  Strand.  Holborn  Street  was  paved  in  1417 ; 
and  during  the  sixteenth  century  some  streets  outside  of  the 
city  were  paved.  The  Smithfield  market  was  paved  in  1614. 
But  these  were  only  cobblestone  pavements  in  a  few  of  the 
most  important  thoroughfares,  while  down  to  the  eighteenth 
century  most  of  the  streets  were  not  paved  at  all,  and  in 
rainy  weather  became  great  mud-holes.  The  first  pavements 
in  Glasgow  were  constructed  toward  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century. 

In  Paris,  as  early  as  1604,  paving  by  the  royal  govern- 
ment was  substituted  for  the  earlier  method  of  requiring 
householders  to  pave  in  front  of  their  property.  Under  the 
new  system,  the  cost  of  construction  was  levied  on  the  adja- 
cent property  in  proportion  to  the  frontage,  but  the  cost  of 
maintenance  was  paid  by  the  government.  In  1640  there 
was  a  change  in  the  street  officials,  and  a  part  of  the  reve- 
nues from  octroi  duties  was  assigned  for  street  paving.1  It  is 
said  that  in  the  time  of  Louis  XIII  more  than  half  the  streets 
were  unpaved,2  but  in  the  next  half  century  a  large  amount 
of  work  was  done.  The  Paris  pavements  were  mostly  of 
large  stone  blocks,  eight  to  ten  inches  on  each  side.  Gran- 
ite blocks,  even  of  this  kind,  were  not  used  in  London  until 
1  Mildmay,  Police  of  Paris,  p.  108.  2  La  Grande  Encyclopedic. 


MUNICIPAL   IMPROVEMENTS.     I  229 

1761,  when  they  were  introduced  in  Westminster,  and  in  a 
few  years  were  generally  adopted.  About  the  same  time 
raised  foot  pavements  began  to  appear  in  London  and 
Glasgow.1  The  first  foot  pavements  in  Paris  were  laid 
in  1782,2  but  they  did  not  become  usual  for  some  time. 
Aaron  Burr,  writing  in  1811,  says  there  were  no  sidewalks 
in  Paris,3  and  it  was  not  until  1823  that  the  construction  of 
footways  was  required  in  new  streets. 

In  1825  there  was  laid,  on  Commercial  Road,  London,  a 
pavement  of  broad,  flat,  well-jointed  granite  blocks  for  wheel 
tracks,  with  pitching  between  for  horses.  This  method  of 
pavement  construction  was  also  in  use  at  this  time  in  Milan, 
Turin,  Verona,  Sienna,  and  other  Italian  cities.4  About  the 
same  time  a  number  of  stone  pavements  were  built  in  Lon- 
don, with  solid  foundations  on  the  plans  of  the  famous  road 
engineers,  Macadam  and  Telford.  The  blocks  were  rectan- 
gular in  shape,  but  still  much  larger  than  those  now  in  use. 
In  1840  smaller  granite  blocks,  three  by  nine  inches  in  sur- 
face, with  mortar  joints,  were  laid  on  Blackfriars  Bridge. 
The  small  rectangular  blocks  afforded  a  better  foothold  for 
horses,  and  were  bonded  so  as  to  avoid  the  continuous  edge 
of  the  large  blocks,  which  was  quickly  worn  away  under 
heavy  traffic.  The  following  shows  the  various  kinds  of 
pavements  in  the  city  of  London  in  1848 : 6 — 

Cobblestone 1  mile 

Large  blocks 28.6  miles 

Small  blocks 3. 

Wooden  blocks .76 

Macadamized  surface .26 

Total  carriageway 33.5  miles 

Flagstone  paving  (courts  and  alleys)     .        .  16.25 

Total  pavement  ......  49.76  miles 

The  smaller  granite  blocks  were  now  adopted  generally  for 
all  new  stone  pavements  in  London.  Concrete  foundations 

1  Bell  and  Paton,  Municipal  Glasgow,  p.  126. 

2  Block,  Administration  de  Paris,  p.  347. 
8  Tillson,  Street  Pavements,  p.  7. 

*  Law  and  Clark,  Boads  and  Streets,  p.  209. 
6  Ibid.,  p.  173. 


230  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

were  introduced  in  1872.  Wood  pavements  were  also  laid 
to  a  small  extent,  being  preferred  because  they  were  less 
noisy.  After  1870  wood  pavements  were  laid  very  largely 
in  the  districts  away  from  the  heaviest  traffic. 

Some  of  the  other  large  British  cities  at  once  followed 
London  in  the  use  of  the  new  pavements.  Glasgow  laid  a 
stone  tramway,  adopted  the  new  granite  blocks,  and  also  built 
some  wood  pavements.  Manchester  ceased  building  cobble- 
stone pavements  in  1840,  but  they  were  used  in  Liverpool  for 
many  years  later  than  this.  In  1851  Liverpool  had  174 
miles  of  carriageways  and  69  miles  of  streets,  with  an  area 
of  2,474,922  square  yards  of  carriageways,  and  1,048,264 
square  yards  of  footways,  making  a  total  of  3,523,186  square 
yards.  About  two-thirds  of  this  was  cobblestone  pavement, 
one-fifth  macadam,  and  only  eight  per  cent  of  large  granite 
blocks.1  The  smaller  granite  blocks  were  not  used  in  Liver- 
pool until  1871. 

In  America  the  first  street  pavements  were  constructed  in 
Boston  and  New  York  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century;  pavements  were  laid  in  Philadelphia  and  Albany 
early  in  the  next  century  ;  and  the  first  pavement  in  Balti- 
more was  built  in  1781.  These  were  of  large  rounded  pebbles 
or  cobblestones ;  and  in  the  earliest  pavements  the  stones 
were  laid  with  a  slope  toward  the  centre  of  the  street,  form- 
ing an  open  gutter  to  carry  off  the  surface  drainage  to  the 
nearest  stream.  There  were  no  footways.  Similar  street 
pavements  are  still  to  be  seen  in  Spanish  and  South  Ameri- 
can cities. 

After  the  Revolution  there  was  apparently  an  improve- 
ment in  the  construction  of  pavements  in  American  cities.2 
Raised  footways  or  sidewalks  were  built,3  and  the  street  sur- 
face was  made  convex  instead  of  concave.  Large  stone 

1  Law  and  Clark,  Eoads  and  Streets,  p.  193. 

2  Compare  Burr's  comments  on  Paris  pavements  in  1811  — Tillson,  Street 
Pavements,  p.  7  :  "  No  sidewalks  —  the  carts,  cabriolets,  and  carriages  of  all 
sorts  run  up  to  the  very  houses.  .  .  .    Most  of  the  streets  are  paved  as  Albany 
and  New  York  were  before  the  Revolution,  some  arched  in  the  middle  and  a 
little  gutter  on  each  side,  very  near  the  houses." 

8  Curbstones  were  first  used  in  Philadelphia  in  1786. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I  231 

blocks,  with  a  flat  surface,  but  irregular  in  shape,  were  used 
in  the  streets  of  St.  Louis  in  1818 ;  and  similar  blocks  were 
introduced  into  New  Orleans  a  few  years  later,1  and  into 
Cleveland  in  1851.  But  in  the  Eastern  cities  cobblestones 
continued  to  be  used  almost  exclusively  for  a  long  time.  In 
1849  large  stone  blocks  2  to  3  feet  square  were  laid  on 
Broadway  in  New  York  city ;  and  after  1850  the  so-called 
Belgian  block  of  granite,  about  8  inches  square,  was  intro- 
duced, and  in  a  few  years  came  into  general  use.  Oblong 
granite  blocks  were  first  used  in  1869,  but  these  were  about 
6  by  18  inches ;  and  it  was  not  until  1876  that  the  smaller 
blocks  similar  to  those  in  London  appeared.  St.  Louis 
adopted  the  granite  blocks  in  1873,  and  some  are  to  be 
found  in  all  large  cities,  at  least  on  streets  of  the  heaviest 
traffic.  As  late  as  1884,  93  per  cent  of  the  paved  streets 
in  Philadelphia  were  of  cobblestone,  and  only  6^  per  cent 
of  granite  blocks.2 

New  York  and  Philadelphia  had  some  experimental  wooden 
pavements  as  early  as  1835,  but  they  did  not  give  satisfac- 
tion. Many  Western  cities  are,  however,  located  so  far  from 
supplies  of  stone  that  the  cost  of  any  pavement  of  that 
material  is  prohibitive.  In  consequence  these  cities  have 
experimented  very  largely  with  wooden  pavements.  From 
1844  to  1855  the  most  important  streets  of  Chicago  were 
planked,  in  1851  to  1852  many  streets  in  St.  Louis  were 
planked  and  San  Francisco  also  had  planked  streets.3  Be- 
tween 1860  and  1870  many  cities  laid  large  areas  with  oblong- 
wooden  blocks  of  pine  or  spruce.  Just  after  1870  over  a 
million  square  yards  of  wood  pavement  were  laid  in  Wash- 
ington ;  but  when  this  decayed  in  a  few  years  it  was  replaced 
by  more  substantial  pavements.  In  the  West,  after  1880, 
round  cedar  blocks  came  to  be  used,  and  millions  of  yards 
were  laid  in  Chicago,  Detroit,  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis,  and 
many  smaller  cities.  In  Omaha,  Des  Moines,  and  Kansas 
City  cypress  blocks  were  used.*  The  cypress  blocks  are 
more  durable  than  cedar,  but  none  of  the  woods  used  in 

1  Tillson,  Street  Pavements,  pp.  12-13.  *Ibid.,  pp.  11-13. 

9  Ibid.,  p.  11.  */6id.,ch.  10. 


232  MUNICIPAL   ACTIVITIES 

America  are  so  durable  as  the  Baltic  fir  used  in  Europe  or 
the  Australian  hard  woods;  while  the  interstices  between 
the  round  blocks  and  the  lack  of  a  substantial  foundation 
served  to  hasten  the  decay.  Wooden  pavements  have  been 
used  to  a  considerable  extent  in  London,  Paris,  and  Russia, 
and  although  more  durable  than  American  wood  pavements, 
they  require  to  be  frequently  renewed. 

More  recently  the  use  of  brick  as  a  material  for  street 
pavement  has  grown  to  significant  proportions.  Brick  pave- 
ment originated  in  Holland  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and 
is  still  used  extensively  in  that  country,  as  well  as  in  Japan. 
The  first  brick  pavement  in  the  United  States  was  laid  at 
Charlestown,  W.  Va.,  in  1873,  followed  by  one  at  Blooming- 
ton,  111.,  in  1875;  but  it  was  not  until  1883  that  brick  came 
into  general  use.  Among  the  cities  which  early  adopted 
this  form  of  pavement  were  Wheeling,  W.  Va. ;  Steuben- 
ville,  O. ;  Galesburg,  111. ;  Zanesville,  O. ;  Peoria,  111. ;  and 
Philadelphia.1 

Experimental  asphalt  pavements  were  laid  as  early  as  1838. 
In  1854  a  street  in  Paris  was  paved  with  this  material ;  in 
1869  it  was  introduced  in  London,  and  in  1873  in  Berlin.  By 
1878  there  were  100,000  square  yards  of  asphalt  pavement  in 
London,  and  in  1880,  500,000  square  yards  in  Paris.  These 
European  asphalt  pavements  were  constructed  with  a  lime- 
stone rock  naturally  impregnated  with  bitumen.  This  mate- 
rial wears  very  slippery,  and  consequently  has  not  been  used 
extensively.  But  with  the  discovery  of  natural  beds  of 
bitumen,  or  pitch,  notably  that  on  the  Island  of  Trinidad,  it 
was  found  possible  to  make  an  artificial  mixture,  and  by 
using  a  granular  sand,  to  lessen  very  materially  the  slippery 
effect.  Pavements  of  this  kind  have  in  recent  years  come  to 
be  very  largely  used  in  the  United  States.  The  first  experi- 
mental asphalt  pavements  in  America  were  laid  in  1870  in 
Jersey  City  and  Newark.  During  the  next  few  years  about 
20,000  yards  of  such  pavement  were  laid  in  several  streets  of 
New  York,  and  samples  were  also  laid  in  Washington,  D.C., 
and  Boston.  The  first  extended  use  was  in  Washington, 

1  Tillson,  Street  Pavements,  ch.  9. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I  233 

where  from  1878  to  1882  400,000  square  yards  were  laid. 
Buffalo  next  adopted  asphalt  paving,  and  gradually  many 
other  cities  followed.  Since  1890  there  has  been  a  very 
extensive  use  of  asphalt,  and  the  United  States  now  has 
nearly  30,000,000  square  yards  of  asphalt  pavement.  Some 
American  asphalt  has  also  been  laid  in  Europe,  but  as  yet  a 
comparatively  small  amount. 

Railway  tracks  form  another  kind  of  street  pavement,  but 
the  development  and  comparative  extent  of  these  in  different 
cities  can  best  be  noted  in  connection  with  the  discussion  on 
street  railway  operation,  to  follow  in  the  next  chapter. 

Some  American  cities  still  have  a  large  area  of  cobble- 
stone pavement.  Baltimore,  with  over  7,000,000  square 
yards  (most  of  which  was  laid  between  1874  and  1881),  has 
by  far  the  greatest  amount.  But  in  Brooklyn  there  are  still 
over  4,000,000  square  yards,  and  in  Philadelphia,  2,300,000 
square  yards.  The  much  smaller  cities  of  Cincinnati  and 
Pittsburg  have  each  1,200,000  square  yards,  while  San  Fran- 
cisco (400,000  square  yards),  New  Orleans  (660,000  square 
yards),  and  Albany  (391,000  square  yards)  have  still  a 
large  amount  of  this  pavement.  On  the  other  hand,  some 
of  the  largest  cities  —  notably  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Boston, 
Cleveland,  and  Buffalo  —  have  practically  no  cobblestone 
pavement. 

All  of  the  cities  with  over  200,000  population,  as  well  as 
many  of  the  smaller  cities,  have  a  considerable  amount  of 
stone  block  pavement.  New  York  has  over  9,000,000  square 
yards  of  granite  blocks,  Manhattan  Island  having  been  paved 
almost  exclusively  with  these  before  the  use  of  asphalt. 
Philadelphia  has  nearly  6,000,000  square  yards,  and  Boston 
nearly  2,000,000  square  yards.  Chicago  has  less  than  600,000 
square  yards  of  granite  block  pavement,  and  Detroit  only 
65,000  square  yards,  while  in  the  smaller  cities  of  the 
middle  West  the  small  extent  of  stone  block  pavement  is 
noticeable. 

Philadelphia,  with  almost  2,000,000  square  yards  of  brick 
pavement,  has  the  largest  amount  in  any  one  city ;  but 
Des  Moines,  la.,  with  1,500,000  square  yards,  leads  all  the 


234  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

American  cities  in  extent  of  brick  pavement  in  proportion 
to  population.  Columbus  and  Cleveland  (Ohio),  with 
1,600,000  square  yards  and  1,200,000  square  yards,  respec- 
tively, rank  next.  Other  cities  which  have  adopted  this 
pavement  to  a  large  extent  are  Louisville,  Kansas  City, 
Detroit,  Evansville,  and  Peoria,  and  most  cities  in  the 
middle  West  have  a  noticeable  area  of  brick  pavement. 

By  far  the  largest  area  of  wood  pavement  is  to  be  found 
in  Chicago,  where  there  are  15,000,000  square  yards.  De- 
troit, with  3,700,000  square  yards,  has,  however,  a  larger 
proportion  of  such  pavement  to  the  population  and  to  the 
total  area  of  paved  streets.  The  small  city  of  Superior, 
Wis.,  with  nearly  1,400,000  square  yards,  has  wood  pave- 
ments exclusively.  Milwaukee  has  1,400,000  square  yards 
of  such  pavements ;  Minneapolis,  over  1,000,000  ;  St.  Paul, 
559,000;  and  Duluth,  470,000.  Some  other  cities  have 
smaller  areas,  but  brick  pavements  have  already  become 
more  common  in  most  cities  where  wood  pavements  formerly 
prevailed. 

Nearly  every  city  with  over  40,000  population  has  now 
some  asphalt  pavement.  New  York  has  nearly  5,000,000 
square  yards  ;  but  the  much  smaller  cities  of  Buffalo 
(4,000,000  square  yards)  and  Washington  (3,000,000  square 
yards)  have  by  far  the  largest  area  of  asphalt  pavement  in 
proportion  to  size.  Philadelphia  has  about  4,000,000  square 
yards ;  Chicago  and  Kansas  City,  each  1,500,000  square  yards  ; 
and  Pittsburg,  1,000,000.  Newark,  Rochester,  Omaha,  and 
Utica  have  each  a  large  area  of  asphalt  streets. 

Some  cities  now  make  large  use  of  macadamized  roadways 
for  the  residence  streets.  New  York  has  over  13,000,000 
square  yards  of  such  streets  in  the  suburban  districts ;  Chi- 
cago has  7,000,000  square  yards ;  St.  Louis,  Boston,  and 
San  Francisco  each  over  5,000,000  square  yards;  Cincinnati 
over  3,000,000  square  yards;  and  Oakland  (Cal.),  Louis- 
ville, Providence,  and  Philadelphia  each  over  2,000,000 
square  yards. 

So  far  as  one  can  form  a  judgment  by  comparing  the 
records  of  street  paving  with  the  impressions  of  travellers, 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I  235 

the  best-paved  cities  in  America  are,  in  the  order  given  : 
Washington,  Buffalo,  Boston,  and  the  borough  of  Manhattan 
in  New  York.  The  first  two  of  these  are  better  paved  than 
any  other  cities  in  the  world,  and  the  other  two  will  compare 
favorably  with  the  best-paved  of  the  foreign  cities.  Among 
the  ten  largest  cities,  Chicago  has  emphatically  the  worst 
pavements,  with  Baltimore  only  one  grade  better.  Of  the 
other  cities  with  over  100,000  population,  those  with  the 
poorest  street  pavements  are  Milwaukee,  Cleveland,  Newark, 
Jersey  City,  Minneapolis,  St.  Paul,  Denver,  Syracuse,  St. 
Joseph,  and  Scranton. 

Statistics  of  street  paving  in  German  cities  show  a  much 
smaller  area  of  pavement  than  in  American  cities  of  the 
same  population.  Hamburg,  with  4,000,000  square  yards, 
has  the  largest  proportion  of  pavement.  Berlin  has  6,500,- 
000  square  yards  ;  Munich  and  Leipzig  each  a  little  over 
3,000,000  square  yards ;  and  Dresden  and  Cologne  each 
less  than  3,000,000  square  yards.  These  figures  are  only 
about  one-half  of  those  for  cities  of  the  same  population  in 
the  United  States.  In  quality  of  pavement  none  of  the 
German  cities  equals  the  best  of  the  American  cities ;  but 
on  the  other  hand  none  is  so  ill  paved  as  the  worst-paved 
cities  in  this  country,  and  most  of  them  are  better  paved 
than  the  average  American  city.  Most  German  cities  still 
have  some  cobblestone  pavement,  but  in  no  case  to  any  such 
extent  as  in  Baltimore  and  Brooklyn.  Berlin,  with  about 
the  same  population  as  Philadelphia,  has  only  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  same  area  of  granite  blocks,  and  less  than  half 
of  the  area  of  asphalt  pavement.  Hamburg  seems  to  be 
somewhat  better  paved  than  St.  Louis,  —  but  with  the  ab- 
sence of  any  large  amount  of  macadamized  roads,  —  while 
Cologne  has  better  pavements  than  Hamburg. 

The  following  shows  the  area  of  the  different  kinds  of 
pavement  in  Paris l  in  1894,  and  in  some  of  the  larger  Ger- 
man cities3  in  1897-1898  :  — 


1  A.  P.  Rockwell,  Eoads  and  Pavements  in  France,  p.  74. 
a  Statistisches  Jahrbuch  Deutscher  Stadtc,  VIII,  p.  60. 


236 


MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 


Kinds  of  Pavement 

Cities 

Total 

Blocks 

Cobblestone 

Asphalt 

Macadam 

sq.  yds. 

sq.  yds. 

sq.  yds. 

sq.  yds. 

sq.  yds. 

Paris     .     . 

7,540,000 

402,000 

1,724,000 

10,550,0001 

Berlin  .     . 

3,200,000 

1,600,000 

1,600,000 

6,700,000 

Hamburg  . 

1,200,000 

2,000,000 

100,000 

3,900,000 

Munich 

1,000,000 

40,000 

6,000 

2,100,000 

3,200,000 

Leipzig  .     . 

650,000 

800,000 

200,000 

900,000 

3,100,000 

Dresden     . 

650,000 

780,000 

12,000 

2,700,000 

Cologne     . 

1,300,000 

320,000 

42,000 

560,000 

3,100,000 

The  total  area  of  Paris  pavements  in  1894  was  less  than 
two-thirds  the  area  of  Philadelphia  pavements  at  present. 
There  is  no  cobblestone  pavement  now  in  Paris.  The  stone 
block  pavement  covers  7,500,000  square  yards,  which  is 
2,000,000  square  yards  more  than  in  Philadelphia,  but  the 
latter  city  has  more  than  3,000,000  square  yards  of  asphalt 
pavement  in  excess  of  the  402,000  square  yards  in  Paris. 

For  the  British  cities  statistics  of  street  paving  are  not 
available.  The  city  of  London  has  most  of  the  main  streets 
paved  with  sheet  asphalt.  In  the  metropolitan  boroughs, 
away  from  the  routes  of  heavy  commercial  traffic,  wood 
pavements  are  generally  in  use,  which,  like  those  of  Paris, 
are  laid  on  a  solid  concrete  base,  and  the  wooden  blocks  are 
promptly  replaced  as  they  wear  out.  In  the  large  provincial 
cities  granite  blocks  are  largely  used,  and  there  is  also  a 
good  deal  of  wood  pavement.  Sheffield  shows  about  the 
same  proportion  of  paved  and  unpaved  streets  as  Cleveland. 

The  factors  to  be  considered  in  comparing  the  different 
kinds  of  pavement  are  durability,  noiselessness,  safety  for 
horses,  ease  of  cleansing,  and  economy.  Some  materials  are 
the  best  in  one  respect,  and  others  in  another  respect,  while 
the  element  of  cost  often  varies  for  the  same  paving  material 
in  different  parts  of  the  country.  The  granite  block  is  the 
most  durable  pavement,  and  is  now  recognized  as  the  only 


1  Includes  880,000  square  yards  of  wood  pavement. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I  237 

satisfactory  pavement  for  the  heaviest  traffic.  Asphalt  ranks 
next,  and  if  laid  on  a  solid  foundation,  will  stand  all  but  the 
heaviest  traffic.  Brick  pavements  are  also  satisfactory  for 
streets  of  medium  traffic.  Both  macadam  and  wood  require 
constant  repairs,  but  the  former,  if  kept  in  repair,  will  last 
much  longer,  and  is  satisfactory  for  streets  of  light  traffic. 

In  regard  to  noiselessness  and  safety  for  horses  the  order 
of  preference  is  the  direct  reverse  of  that  for  durability. 
Wood  is  most  satisfactory  in  these  respects,  and  macadam 
ranks  next.  Brick  and  asphalt  are  both  more  noisy  and 
slippery.  Granite  is  more  slippery  than  bricks  and  less 
slippery  than  asphalt;  but  owing  to  the  exceeding  hardness 
and  ringing  nature  of  the  stone,  the  din  produced  by  heavy 
traffic  on  a  granite  pavement  is  a  serious  nuisance.  On  this 
account  it  is  advisable  to  pave  streets  where  the  traffic  does 
not  demand  the  most  durable  pavement  with  other  materials 
than  granite;  and  to  make  this  possible  it  is  important  to 
regulate  the  street  traffic  so  that  certain  roads  may  be  used 
for  freighting  purposes,  and  others  reserved  for  lighter 
traffic. 

Judged  by  ease  of  cleansing  and  sanitary  advantage 
asphalt  is  emphatically  the  best  pavement.  The  smooth 
surface  can  be  readily  swept,  scraped,  or  flushed,  and  thus 
kept  free  from  litter  and  filth.  Well-laid  brick  and  granite 
pavements  are  the  next  best  in  this  respect.  Macadam  is 
more  difficult  to  clean,  especially  in  wet  weather,  and  this 
adds  another  objection  to  its  use  where  a  considerable  traf- 
fic, even  of  light  vehicles,  adds  to  the  litter  in  the  street. 
Wood  pavements  can  be  cleaned  somewhat  more  easily  than 
macadam,  but  the  decaying  wood  makes  it  a  source  of 
danger  to  the  public  health. 

Irrespective  of  the  question  of  cost,  the  general  statement 
could  be  made  that  the  best  city  pavements  would  be  granite 
blocks  for  the  streets  of  very  heavy  traffic,  asphalt  for  other 
streets  of  considerable  traffic,  and  macadam  for  streets  of 
light  traffic.  But  the  high  cost  of  construction  for  asphalt 
pavement,  and  of  repairs  for  macadam,  leads  to  other  forms 
of  construction.  In  New  England  and  southward  along  the 


238  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

Atlantic  coast,  and  in  the  region  adjacent  to  southwestern 
Missouri,  good  stone  blocks  for  pavements  may  be  obtained ; l 
and  in  these  sections  the  block  pavement  is  naturally  used  to 
a  large  extent.  In  the  basin  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and  in  the 
greater  part  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  good  clays  for  paving 
brick  abound,  and  where  fuel  for  burning  brick  is  cheap,  that 
is  likely  to  prove  the  best  pavement,  except  on  streets  which 
receive  the  hardest  wear. 

Street  Plans 

Many  of  the  ancient  cities,  especially  in  the  dominion 
of  Alexander  the  Great  and  in  the  Roman  Empire,  were 
systematically  laid  out.  This  art  seems  to  have  been  en- 
tirely lost  after  the  downfall  of  Rome.  During  the  Middle 
Ages  cities  developed  without  any  well-defined  plan  or  any 
public  control  over  the  direction,  breadth,  grading,  or  pave- 
ment of  streets ;  and,  indeed,  up  to  the  nineteenth  century 
most  cities  were  built  without  any  systematic  plan.  In  Paris 
under  Louis  XIII  some  government  action  was  taken  to  im- 
prove the  alignment  of  streets,  but  even  there  no  comprehen- 
sive scheme  for  the  expansion  of  the  city  was  prepared  until 
the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.2  One  of '  the  earliest 
of  modern  cities  to  be  carefully  planned  was  Philadelphia — 
by  Penn  in  1681 ;  but  the  plan  does  not  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  present  city,  and  such  as  it  was  has  no 
counterpart  among  the  other  American  cities  which  date 
from  colonial  times,  all  of  which  show  in  their  older  sec- 
tions no  less  an  absence  of  systematic  street  arrangement 
than  the  mediaeval  cities  of  Europe. 

When  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  it  was 
determined  that  a  new  city  should  be  built  as  the  capital 
of  the  United  States,  a  carefully  drawn  scheme  of  streets, 
prepared  by  a  French  engineer,  was  adopted  ;  and  Washing- 
ton ranks  to-day  as  one  of  the  best-arranged  cities  in  the 
world.  Some  years  later  a  municipal  commission,  of  which 

1  N.  S.  Shaler,  American  Highways,  p.  224. 

2  Block,  Administration  de  Paris,  p.  267. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I  239 

De  Witt  Clinton  was  chairman,  determined  the  street  lines  for 
the  development  of  New  York  city,  but  the  rectangular  plan 
adopted,  which  now  governs  the  street  system  of  Manhattan 
Island  north  of  Fourteenth  Street,  has  proven  far  short  of 
satisfactory.  The  evils  of  crooked  and  narrow  streets  are 
avoided,  it  is  true  ;  but  while  the  great  bulk  of  the  traffic,  on 
account  of  the  form  of  the  island,  necessarily  moves  north 
and  south,  there  are  but  few  streets  which  lie  in  those  direc- 
tions, and  the  large  number  of  east  and  west  streets  are  not 
adapted  for  traffic.  Moreover,  the  absence  of  any  diagonal 
or  radial  lines  in  the  plan  is  only  relieved  to  a  slight  extent 
by  the  persistence  of  the  main  highway,  now  Broadway, 
which  furnishes  the  only  exception  to  the  rectangular 
system. 

Most  American  cities  which  have  come  into  existence  since 
the  street  plan  of  New  York  was  adopted  have  been  laid  out 
on  the  same  principle,  with  wide  streets  crossing  each  other 
at  right  angles,  while  some  of  the  more  recent  cities  have  also 
diagonal  streets,  which  improve  greatly  the  transit  facilities. 
With  the  later  amendments,  this  system  is  fairly  well  adapted 
to  cities  located  on  a  level  site  ;  but  where  the  topography  is 
not  simple  the  problems  of  street  alignment  become  more 
difficult,  and  it  is  only  within  a  few  years  that  the  science  of 
street  alignment  has  been  carefully  studied  so  as  to  adapt 
the  street  lines  to  the  natural  features  of  the  city  site.  The 
most  prominent  examples  of  street  planning  on  a  large  scale 
in  a  region  of  complicated  topography  are  in  the  northern 
part  of  New  York  city  and  in  the  southern  part  of  Boston. 
In  both  of  these  cases,  while  the  smaller  units  are  divided  by 
streets  which  cross  each  other  at  right  angles,  the  main  ave- 
nues are  arranged  as  radials  so  as  to  follow  the  natural  lines 
of  traffic  to  the  business  centres. 

In  Europe,  also,  the  alignment  of  the  streets  in  the  new 
sections  of  cities  is  now  carefully  studied  as  an  important 
engineering  problem,  and  the  opening  of  new  streets  is  regu- 
lated by  municipal  officials.  In  the  older  parts  of  cities, 
moreover,  where  formerly  there  was  no  street  system,  large 
and  extensive  schemes  of  street  improvement  have,  in  later 


240  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

years,  been  undertaken,  to  remedy  unsanitary  conditions, 
and  to  provide  adequately  for  the  demands  of  modern  traffic. 

The  most  extensive  undertaking  of  this  latter  kind  has 
been  the  reconstruction  of  Paris  in  the  time  of  Louis  Napo- 
leon. A  general  plan  for  improvements  had  been  adopted 
for  Paris  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  and  under  the  great 
Napoleon,  the  restored  Bourbons,  and  Louis  Philippe,  a  num- 
ber of  important  thoroughfares  had  been  opened.  But  a 
vaster  scheme  was  laid  out  and  carried  to  completion  under 
the  supervision  of  Baron  Haussmann,  who  was  Prefect  of  the 
Department  of  the  Seine  from  1852  to  1870.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  the  broad  and  magnificent  radial  and  encircling 
boulevards  of  Paris  were  constructed  through  closely  built-up 
districts,  and  the  modern  Paris  was  created.  In  addition  to 
street  improvements,  this  work  included  the  construction  of 
a  water  supply  and  sewerage  system,  and  the  opening  up 
of  new  parks  and  squares.  After  deducting  the  revenues 
from  the  sale  of  building  sites  condemned  for  the  improve- 
ments, the  net  outlay  for  the  whole  series  of  works  was 
$250,000,000.  In  other  continental  cities  there  have  been 
similar,  if  less  extensive,  undertakings,  and  the  use  of  the 
site  of  old  city  walls  for  an  encircling  boulevard  forms  a 
frequent  feature  in  the  improvement.  Berlin,  Brussels, 
Antwerp,  Florence,  Milan,  Genoa,  Naples,  Rome,  Hamburg, 
Lille,  Lyons,  Toulouse,  Rouen,  and  Geneva  are  some  of  the 
cities  which  have  carried  through  such  works. 

In  England  the  most  extensive  improvement  schemes 
have  been  those  of  London.  Since  1850  not  less  than 
$160,000,000  has  been  spent  in  the  construction  of  new 
main  arteries  of  traffic  through  the  great  metropolis  of  the 
world.1  The  most  notable  work  has  been  the  construction 
of  the  Holborn  viaduct,  which  carries  a  great  east  and  west 
route  over  one  of  the  leading  north  and  south  roads,  and 
thus  eliminates  the  congestion  of  traffic  at  the  corner  of 
Holborn  Street  and  Farringdon  Road.  Birmingham  and 
Glasgow  have  each  expended  over  $10,000,000  in  similar 
works,  and  important  improvements  have  also  been  carried 

1  Shaw,  Great  Britain,  p  284. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.    I  241 

through  in  Liverpool,  Manchester,  Leeds,  Edinburgh, 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  and  other  places.  The  opening  of 
new  lines  of  traffic,  the  destruction  of  unsanitary  dwell- 
ings, and  the  improvement  of  health  conditions  have  been 
the  most  important  factors  in  the  British  reconstruction 
schemes;  and  aesthetic  improvements,  such  as  mark  the 
works  in  Paris  and  other  continental  cities,  have  been,  in 
England,  of  relatively  minor  significance. 

Even  in  the  United  States,  some  of  the  older  towns  (not- 
ably New  York  and  Boston)  have  undertaken  important 
street  improvements  in  the  older  districts  to  accommodate 
business  traffic  and  to  improve  sanitary  conditions.  The 
abolition  of  railroad  grade  crossings  in  cities  has  also  in- 
volved much  street  reconstruction,  especially  in  New  York, 
Boston,  and  Chicago.  In  New  York,  over  18,000,000  was 
spent  in  raising  and  lowering  the  tracks  of  the  New  York 
and  Harlem  Railroad,  so  as  to  abolish  fifty  grade  crossings  ; 
and  the  widening  and  extension  of  Elm  Street  has  cost 
over  $5,000,000.  But  no  comprehensive  schemes  have  been 
undertaken  in  this  country,  such  as  those  of  Paris  and 
London.  The  necessity  for  the  improvement  of  large  areas 
has  been  less  pressing;  legal  restrictions  prevent  municipal- 
ities from  condemning  any  more  property  than  is  strictly 
necessary  for  the  street  improvements,  and  thus  make 
improvements  more  expensive ;  and  American  cities  obtain 
no  financial  aid  for  such  works  from  the  central  govern- 
ment, as  has  been  the  case  in  Europe.  The  result  is  that 
the  large  American  cities  have  no  such  magnificent  avenues 
through  the  centre  of  activities  as  most  of  the  European 
capitals  have  secured  from  their  extensive  improvement 
schemes. 

Bridges 

The  construction  of  bridges  has  always  been  an  important 
part  of  road-building,  and  municipal  bridges  are  in  the  same 
way  important  features  in  city  street  systems.  But  whereas 
the  city  streets  represent  the  most  highly  developed  form 
of  roadway,  it  is  highway  or  railroad  bridges  rather  than 


'242  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

municipal  bridges  which  represent  the  highest  development 
in  this  branch  of  engineering.  Nevertheless,  a  few  of  the 
bridges  of  the  world  which  are  most  noted,  even  as  engineer- 
ing works,  are  municipal  structures,  and  many  other  city 
bridges  have  also  a  claim  to  special  attention. 

Bridge-building  began  in  prehistoric  times.  Herodotus 
mentions  one  over  the  Euphrates  at  Babylon,  and  bridges 
are  known  to  have  been  constructed  in  Phoenicia,  Egypt,  and 
Greece.  These  early  bridges  were  simple  in  construction, 
consisting  of  piers  built  closely  together,  and  connected  with 
timbers  and  planks.  The  first  bridge  over  the  Tiber  at 
Rome  —  the  Pons  Sublicius  —  was  of  similar  construction  ; 
but  later  the  Romans  applied  the  arch  to  bridges,  and  built 
a  large  number  of  important  masonry  structures.  There 
were  seven  bridges  over  the  Tiber,  one  having  a  span  of 
eighty  feet.  High  bridges  were  built  to  carry  the  water 
supply  of  Rome  over  low  valleys,  and  many  of  the  munici- 
palities of  the  Roman  Empire  also  built  important  bridges. 
After  the  fall  of  Rome  there  was  little  bridge-building  for 
several  centuries,  and  almost  no  progress  in  the  art  was  ex- 
perienced until  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  first  stone  bridge  over  the  Thames,  on  the  site  of  the 
present  London  Bridge,  was  begun  in  1176  and  completed  in 
1209.  The  Danube  was  bridged  at  Regensburg  in  1146; 
the  Rhone  at  Avignon  in  1188,  and  at  Lyons  in  1265 ;  the 
Elbe  at  Dresden  in  1260;  the  Mosel  at  Coblenz  in  1344;  and 
about  the  same  time  the  Moldau  at  Prague  was  crossed  by 
a  bridge  which  had  been  under  construction  for  145  years. 
Flat  arches  in  place  of  the  Roman  half  circle  were  first  used 
in  the  twelfth  century.  During  the  Renaissance  period 
some  notable  bridges  of  bold  and  original  designs  were  con- 
structed. The  bridge  over  the  Ticino  at  Pavia,  with  seven 
pointed  brick  arches,  each  covering  a  span  of  70  feet,  was 
built  in  the  fourteenth  century.  At  Florence  the  Ponta 
della  Trinita  was  built  in  1566 ;  and  at  Venice,  the  present 
stone  bridge  of  the  Rialto  in  1591,  the  latter  having  a  span 
of  91  feet.  The  wooden  bridge  of  Notre  Dame  was  thrown 
across  the  Seine  in  1433 ;  and  in  1604  the  Pont  Neuf  was 


MUNICIPAL  IMPKOVEMENTS.    I  243 

built  of  stone  by  Henry  IV.  About  the  middle  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  the  old  Westminster  and  Blackfriars  bridges 
were  built  over  the  Thames.  In  the  first  part  of  the  next 
century  three  other  London  bridges  were  built :  the  new 
London  Bridge  in  1817,  with  three  stone  arches  of  152  feet 
span ;  the  Southwark  Bridge  in  1819,  with  a  metal  arch  of 
240  feet  span ;  and  the  Waterloo  Bridge. 

A  new  era  in  bridge-building  dates  from  the  introduction 
of  the  modern  suspension  bridge  about  1820.  The  bridge 
over  the  Menai  Straits,  built  in  1819  by  Telford,  with  a  span 
of  570  feet,  was  the  most  notable  work  of  the  kind  up  to 
that  time.  In  1855  the  first  Niagara  suspension  bridge, 
with  a  span  of  821  feet,  was  constructed.  But  the  latter, 
like  most  of  the  other  important  bridges  built  at  this  time, 
was  a  railroad  bridge.  The  Brooklyn  Bridge,  over  the 
East  River  at  New  York,  however,  built  between  1870  and 
1883,  is  a  municipal  work  which  at  the  time  of  its  comple- 
tion surpassed  all  other  bridges  in  the  world,  and  still  ranks 
among  the  greatest  bridges.  It  is  over  a  mile  in  length, 
with  a  central  river  span  of  1,595  feet ;  the  roadway  is  85 
feet  wide,  and  150  feet  above  high  water ;  the  massive  stone 
piers  which  support  the  cables  are  27-8  feet  high,  and  the  four 
cables  are  each  15|  inches  in  diameter.  The  gross  weight 
of  the  structure  is  17,780  tons,  and  its  cost  $14,627,379. 
Another  bridge  over  the  East  River,  even  larger  than  the 
Brooklyn  Bridge,  is  now  under  construction.  In  addition 
to  these  New  York  has  a  large  number  of  less  important 
bridges.  The  total  number  aggregates  440,  but  many  are 
small  structures.  The  principal  bridges,  next  to  those 
over  the  East  River,  are  the  seven  over  the  Harlem  River, 
of  which  the  most  noted  is  the  Washington  Bridge,  built 
between  1886  and  1889,  with  two  steel  arches  each  510  feet 
in  span. 

At  London  there  are  now  ten  bridges  under  the  control  of 
the  County  Council,  and  four  others  (Blackfriars,  South- 
wark, London,  and  Tower)  under  the  city  corporation. 
The  present  Tower  Bridge,  completed  in  1897,  is  an  interest- 
ing example  of  a  modern  bascule  bridge.  The  many  bridges 


244  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

over  the  Seine  at  Paris  do  not  involve  any  difficult  engineer- 
ing problems,  but  are  noted  as  successful  artistic  structures. 
The  most  recent  is  the  Alexander  III  Bridge,  completed  in 
1900.  Municipal  bridges  of  considerable  size  and  impor- 
tance have  also  been  built  within  the  past  fifty  years  over 
many  of  the  large  rivers  of  Europe.  The  Rhine  is  crossed 
at  Mainz,  Coblenz,  Cologne,  and  Duisburg-Hochfeld.  The 
bridge  at  the  last-named  city,  completed  in  1896,  has  two 
spans  of  550  feet.  The  Danube  is  crossed  at  Vienna  and 
Budapest,  and  the  Elbe  at  Leipzig  and  Dresden.  There  are 
five  bridges  at  Prague,  and  numerous  bridges  over  the 
smaller  river  Spree  at  Berlin.  Glasgow  has  seven  bridges 
over  the  Clyde,  with  several  others  over  smaller  streams. 

In  addition  to  the  New  York  bridges  mentioned  above, 
there  are  many  municipal  bridges  of  some  importance  in 
other  American  cities.  The  Chestnut  Street  Bridge  over  the 
Schuylkill  River  at  Philadelphia  (completed  in  1863)  is  the 
largest  cast-iron  bridge  in  America.  The  principal  bridges 
at  Boston  are  those  over  the  Charles  River  to  Charlestown 
and  Cambridge.  There  are  many  bridges  over  the  Alle- 
gheny River  between  Allegheny  and  Pittsburg;  over  the 
Ohio  River  at  Wheeling  and  Cincinnati ;  and  over  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  at  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis,  Dubuque,  and  St. 
Louis. 

In  earlier  times  tolls  were  ordinarily  charged  for  the  privi- 
lege of  crossing  bridges  even  when  built  by  public  authori- 
ties ;  and  some  instances  of  toll  bridges  in  large  cities  are 
still  to  be  found.  Tolls  are  charged  on  vehicle  traffic  across 
Brooklyn  Bridge,  but  all  other  New  York  bridges  are  sup- 
ported from  public  taxation.  In  Dresden  and  Prague  tolls 
are  still  required.  In  general,  however,  bridge  tolls  have 
been  abolished,  and  although  street  car  companies  frequently 
pay  a  considerable  part  of  the  cost  of  bridge  construction,  as 
a  rule  no  extra  fare  is  charged  for  crossing  a  bridge  in  a  car. 

Underground  Roads 

In  a  few  large  cities  the  work  of  street  construction  has 
received  further  development  in  the  building  of  under- 


MUNICIPAL   IMPROVEMENTS.     I  245 

ground  roads  or  tunnels  of  considerable  length.  These 
were  first  built  under  rivers  where  bridges  were  impractica- 
ble, such  as  the  Mersey  tunnel  from  Liverpool  to  Birkenhead, 
the  tunnel  under  the  Clyde  at  Glasgow,  and  the  Black  wall 
tunnel  (completed  in  1897)  under  the  Thames,  east  of  the 
London  bridges.  There  are  also  three  tunnels  under  the 
Chicago  River,  built  mainly  for  the  use  of  the  street  railway 
cars.  The  most  extensive  city  tunnels  now  completed  are 
the  underground  steam  railroads  of  London,  built  by  the 
private  corporations.  Glasgow  has  an  underground  cable 
road.  In  America  the  most  important  work  of  the  kind 
thus  far  completed  is  the  Boston  subway,  constructed  by 
the  municipality  for  the  street  railway  traffic.  It  is  two- 
thirds  of  a  mile  in  length  through  the  heart  of  the  city,  and 
cost  $4,000,000.  A  tunnel  under  Boston  harbor  to  the 
island  of  East  Boston  is  now  under  construction.  By  far 
the  greatest  work  of  the  kind  will  be  the  underground 
rapid  transit  railroad  now  under  construction  in  New  York 
city.  This  is  to  be  twenty  miles  in  length,  and  is  being 
built,  under  what  is  probably  the  largest  single  contract  ever 
made,  for  135,000,000. 

SEWERS   AND   SEWAGE   DISPOSAL 

Despite  the  antiquity  of  the  Cloaca  Maxima  at  Rome  and 
the  drainage  systems  in  other  ancient  cities,  the  systems  of 
sewerage  in  modern  cities  are  very  largely  the  work  of  the 
last  half  century.  Of  the  largest  cities  at  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  Paris  shows  the  greatest  advance  in 
this  field.  As  early  as  1412  Menilmontant  Brook  in  the 
capital  of  France  had  been  covered  —  the  first  measure 
which  went  beyond  providing  gutters  and  open  drains  run- 
ning to  the  nearest  watercourse.1  Some  other  works  were 
constructed  during  the  reigns  of  Henry  II,  Henry  IV,  and 
Louis  XIV  ;  and  by  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century 
there  were  some  12,000  yards  of  sewers  in  Paris.  In  1740  a 

1  The  history  of  early  sewer  construction  in  Paris  is  given  in  Victor 
Hugo's  Les  Miserables,  Vol.  V,  Book  2. 


246  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

large  connecting  canal  was  built,  and  small  additions  were 
made  to  the  underground  drains  from  time  to  time,  so  that 
in  1806  there  were  all  together  25,480  yards  of  sewers.  Their 
condition  is  described^by  Victor  Hugo  as  "tortuous,  fissured, 
unpaved,  crackling,  interrupted  by  quagmires,  broken  by 
fantastic  elbows,  fetid,  savage,  wild." 

About  the  beginning  of  the  modern  era  the  principal 
natural  drainage  course  on  the  present  site  of  London  was 
the  Fleet  Ditch,  formed  by  the  juncture  of  two  smaller 
streams  at  Holborn  Bridge,  whence  it  ran  to  the  Thames  at 
the  present  site  of  Blackfriars  Bridge.  This  stream  became 
choked  up  with  refuse,  and  in  spite  of  repeated  efforts  dur- 
ing the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  to  clean  out  the 
channel,  it  remained  little  better  than  an  open  sewer.  In 
1668  Fleet  Ditch  was  again  cleaned,  and  this  time  its  walls 
were  lined  with  brick,  forming  a  canal  2100  feet  long,  40 
feet  wide,  and  5  feet  deep  at  mid  tide.  In  1733  that  part 
of  the  ditch  north  of  Fleet  Street  was  filled  in,  leaving  two 
arches  10  feet  high  and  6  feet  wide  as  covered  sewers  to 
carry  off  the  drainage.  In  1760  the  remainder  of  the  ditch 
from  Fleet  Street  to  the  Thames  was  filled  in  and  the  sewer 
extended.1  The  only  other  public  sewers  in  London  at  this 
time  were  Walbrook  and  the  Moorgate  sewer  —  both  former 
watercourses.  There  were  also  branch  sewers  built  by  pri- 
vate individuals,  most  of  which  were  constructed  after  the 
great  fire. 

During  the  reign  of  George  III2  the  committee  of  Com- 
mon Council  was  created  Commissioners  of  Sewers,  with 
power  to  construct  and  repair  sewers  and  to  levy  local  rates. 
Similar  commissioners  of  sewers  were  established  for  other 
London  districts.  Under  these  authorities  there  was  con- 
siderable sewer  construction.  In  1806  house  refuse  was  for 
the  first  time  allowed  in  the  sewers,  and  by  1845  there  were 
15  miles  of  sewers  in  the  city,  45  miles  in  the  Tower  Hamlet 
district3  (of  which  11  miles  had  been  constructed  since 

1  Journal  Royal  Statistical  Society,  7 :  143. 

2  11  Geo.  Ill,  ch.  29. 

»  Journal  Eoyal  Statistical  Society,  7  : 143. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I  247 

1830),  350  miles  in  the  Holborn  and  Finsbury  districts,  and 
other  sewers  in  other  parts  of  the  metropolis.  Sewer  con- 
struction was  so  far  extended  by  1847  that  in  that  year  the 
use  of  cesspools  in  London  was  forbidden.  The  finest  sewer 
at  that  time  —  the  one  leading  from  Moorfields  to  London 
Bridge  —  was  8  feet  6  inches  high  by  7  feet  wide.  All  of 
the  sewers  at  this  time  discharged  into  the  Thames,  although 
London  had  now  a  population  of  over  two  millions.  Glasgow 
had  begun  the  construction  of  public  sewers  in  1798,  and  other 
large  British  cities  had,  also  built  sewers  after  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century ;  but  no  other  city  could  claim 
to  be  even  so  far  advanced  as  London  at  the  middle  of  the 
century. 

In  Paris  the  extension  of  the  older  sewer  system  was 
begun  by  Bruneseau  early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  but 
only  5254  yards  were  laid  in  the  time  of  Napoleon  I,  and 
18,000  yards  additional  under  the  restored  Bourbon  mon- 
archy. After  1832,  however,  sewer  construction  progressed 
more  rapidly,  and  97,000  yards  were  laid  in  the  reign  of 
Louis  Philippe,  and  by  1855  there  was  a  total  of  425,000 
yards  of  sewers.1 

American  cities  had  done  very  little  in  sewer  construc- 
tion before  1850.  Box  drains  of  wood  to  carry  off  surface 
water  had  been  built  in  New  York  as  early  as  1676,  and  in 
Boston  before  1700  ;  and  a  few  early  sewers  were  built, 
most  of  which  were  constructed  by  private  property  owners. 
In  1823  the  private  sewers  of  Boston  were  superseded  by  a 
system  of  public  sewers  built  and  controlled  by  the  city. 
When  this  change  was  completed,  Boston  presented  a  nearer 
approach  to  the  London  standard  than  any  other  American 
city ;  and  twenty  years  later  even  New  York  had  no  public 
sewerage  arrangements,  although  that  city  had  then  the  best 
and  most  abundant  water  supply  of  any  city  in  the  world.2 
The  methods  of  removing  sewage  even  in  the  largest  cities 
were  the  same  as  those  still  in  use  in  country  districts  : 
kitchen  waste  was  run  into  the  street,  and  together  with  the 

1  Eclectic  Engineering  Magazine,  19  : 124. 

2  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  XII,  53. 


248 


MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 


surface  drainage  either  evaporated,  percolated  into  the 
ground,  or  was  led  by  open  drains  to  a  watercourse  ;  and 
the  contents  of  privies  and  water-closets  were  led  to  vaults 
or  cesspools,  to  soak  into  the  soil,  or  to  be  carted  away  as 
the  receptacles  became  filled. 

In  1849  a  municipal  department  of  sewers  was  established 
in  New  York  city,  which  was  given  control  over  the  70 
miles  of  sewers  then  within  the  municipal  limits.  From 
that  time  sewer  construction  went  on  steadily,  and  after 
1865  rapid  progress  was  made,  until  by  1870  there  were 
260  miles  of  sewers  in  New  York.  Chicago  began  the  con- 
struction of  public  sewers  in  1856  ;  four  years  later  that  city 
had  56  miles  of  sewers,  and  by  1869,  140  miles.1  Brooklyn 
began  building  sewers  on  a  large  scale  in  1858,  and  other 
large  American  cities,  as  well  as  cities  in  Germany  and  else- 
where, soon  took  up  the  same  work. 

The  next  stage  in  the  advance  of  municipal  sewerage 
systems  began,  like  the  preceding  one,  in  London.  The 
discharge  from  the  sewers,  now  laden  with  the  fecal  matter 
from  a  community  of  two  and  a  half  millions,  proved  beyond 
the  capacity  of  the  river  Thames.  The  filth-laden  water 
became  a  nuisance ;  the  deposit  from  the  sewers  at  times 
obstructed  navigation,  and  was  a  constant  menace  to  the 
health  of  the  metropolis.  It  was  obvious  that  the  problem 
could  not  be  solved  by  existing  authorities,  but  required  a 
single  authority  for  the  entire  metropolitan  district.  To 
remedy  existing  evils  the  Metropolitan  Board  of  Works  was 
created  in  1855.  The  first  task  of  that  board  was  to  build 


1  SEWERS  IN  CHICAGO 
(Board  of  Health  Report,  1867-1869,  p.  271) 


Year 

Feet 

Year 

Feet 

Year 

Feet 

Year 

Feet 

1856 

31,794 

1860 

283,586 

1864 

366,723 

1868 

582,320 

1857 

57,475 

1861 

286,412 

1865 

396,671 

1869 

730,320 

1858 

159,351 

1862 

302,097 

1866 

444,798 

1859 

213,562 

1863 

341,702 

1867 

534,479 

MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I  249 

a  series  of  intercepting  or  trunk  sewers,  converging  into 
two  sewer  tunnels,  one  on  each  side  of  the  river,  which  were 
extended  to  a  point  of  outfall  in  the  river  some  fifteen  miles 
below  the  city.  The  outfall  sewers  were  opened  in  1863- 
1864,  and  were  in  full  operation  by  1866. l  The  original  plan 
was  to  provide  temporary  storage,  and  to  discharge  each  half- 
day's  accumulation  on  the  ebbing  tide.  But  in  times  of 
rainfall  the  storage  system  proved  inadequate,  and  caused 
a  backflow  of  sewage,  which  overflowed  into  the  streets  at 
many  places.  To  remedy  this  a  system  of  relief  sewers  was 
built  leading  directly  into  the  river,  thus  discharging,  when- 
ever there  was  a  heavy  rainfall,  a  large  amount  of  sewage 
into  the  Thames  directly  within  the  metropolis.  This  was 
manifestly  little  improvement  over  the  old  system.  More- 
over, a  royal  commission  reported  in  1884  that  the  discharge 
of  crude  sewage  into  the  river,  even  at  the  end  of  the  outfall 
sewer,  should  not  be  allowed.  To  provide  a  remedy  for  the 
first  of  these  difficulties,  additional  pumping  and  tunnel 
facilities  were  constructed.  For  the  second,  a  system  of 
precipitation  by  chemical  treatment  was  adopted ;  the  efflu- 
ent was  discharged  into  the  river,  and  the  sludge  was  carried 
away  by  steamers  and  deposited  at  sea.2 

In  Paris  the  reconstruction  schemes  of  the  second  empire 
included  a  radical  extension  of  the  sewerage  mains  on  a 
well-planned  system,  and  in  addition  the  main  features  of 
the  London  works  which  had  been  already  begun.  The  90 
miles  of  sewers  in  1855  had  increased  by  1878  to  450  miles, 
or  but  50  miles  less  than  the  total  mileage  of  streets  at  that 
time.  Three  intercepting  trunk  sewers  have  also  been  con- 
structed,3 one  on  each  bank  of  the  Seine,  and  a  third  across 
the  northern  part  of  the  city.  These  trunk  sewers  are  each 
from  5  to  7  miles  in  length,  10  feet  high,  and  from  15  to 
20  feet  in  diameter.  The  sewage  ordinarily  flows  in  a  chan- 
nel 4  or  5  feet  deep,  on  either  side  of  which  is  a  footway 
2  or  3  feet  wide.  Since  1878  the  work  of  extending  the 

1  Eclectic  Engineering  Magazine,  19 : 124. 

2  Shaw,  Great  Britain,  263-275. 

8  Block,  Administration  de  Paris,  p.  486. 


250  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

Paris  sewers  has  progressed  steadily,  and  the  aggregate 
length  of  the  sewers  reported  in  1896  was  722  miles.  The 
discharge  of  the  Paris  sewage  into  the  Seine  just  below  the 
city  was  less  obnoxious  than  the  similar  deposit  of  London 
sewage  into  the  Thames,  because  in  Paris  house  sewage  was 
not  allowed  in  the  sewers.  Nevertheless,  since  1870  the 
purification  of  the  sewage  by  means  of  broad  irrigation  has 
been  tried  on  a  large  scale.  In  recent  years  cesspools  are 
being  abolished,  and  all  sewage  is  being  led  into  the  sewers. 
It  remains  to  see  whether  the  present  methods  of  treatment 
are  adequate  for  the  new  conditions. 

Since  1870  the  problems  of  final  disposal  of  sewage,  before 
that  date  confined  mainly  to  London  and  Paris,  have  been 
seriously  met  in  many  other  cities,  notably  in  Great  Britain 
and  Germany.  Birmingham,  Manchester,  and  Glasgow  were 
among  the  earliest  British  cities  to  undertake  such  works. 
In  Germany  Danzig  inaugurated  a  complete  sewerage  system 
with  a  sewage  farm  in  1869.  Berlin  began  a  comprehensive 
scheme  in  1870,  and  by  1875  had  the  new  works  in  operation 
over  a  considerable  part  of  the  city. 

At  the  present  time  the  British  cities  are  the  best  equipped 
in  this  branch  of  municipal  activity,  a  situation  due  in 
part  to  the  early  development  of  the  urban  conditions,  and 
in  part  also  to  the  pressure  of  the  Local  Government  Board 
on  any  local  authorities  who  were  inclined  to  neglect  this 
work.  In  many  British  cities,  however,  the  sewers  are  con- 
nected with  water-closets  in  only  a  part  of  the  houses.  Even 
in  Birmingham  only  half  of  the  population  is  supplied  with 
water-closets  connected  with  the  sewer  system. 

Most  of  the  large  American  cities  have  sewers  in  a  large 
part  of  their  built-up  area ;  but  there  are  some  important 
exceptions.  Baltimore,  New  Orleans,  and  Mobile  have  prac- 
tically no  underground  sewers,  and  the  surface  flow  is  allowed 
to  run  off  in  the  open  gutters.  In  other  cases  the  sewer 
system  has  not  been  extended  with  the  growth  of  the  city. 
Philadelphia  in  1900  had  but  886  miles  of  sewers  to  1400 
miles  of  streets;  and  St.  Louis  only  495  miles  of  sewers  to 
875  miles  of  streets.  In  many  cases,  too,  sewer  construction 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I  251 

has  been  an  accidental  growth,  with  no  well-defined  plan. 
Thus  the  New  York  sewers  down  to  1880  had  80  openings 
south  of  Fourteenth  Street,  all  ending  at  the  bulkhead  line, 
allowing  the  discharge  to  accumulate  between  the  piers. 
Philadelphia  sewers  still  discharge  into  the  Schuylkill  and 
Delaware  rivers  all  along  the  city  front,  and  cesspools  are 
still  allowed  in  the  city.  In  Chicago  the  sewer  grades  are 
almost  level,  and  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  cleaning 
them  kitchen  slop  has  not  been  allowed  in  the  sewers. 
Other  cities  present  similar  examples  of  haphazard  develop- 
ment. Nevertheless  considerable  improvements  have  been 
made  in  several  American  cities  within  the  last  twenty  years. 
In  New  York  intercepting  sewers  have  been  constructed 
along  the  water  front,  discharging  into  the  swift  tidal  cur- 
rent at  the  outward  end  of  the  piers.  In  Manhattan  and 
Bronx  there  are  over  400  miles  of  sewers  discharging  at  140 
outlets,  the  area  being  divided  into  26  distinct  drainage  dis- 
tricts. In  Buffalo  the  construction  in  1882  of  an  intercept- 
ing sewer  4  miles  long  and  8  feet  in  diameter  has  relieved 
the  most  serious  difficulties  there.  Washington  is  well 
sewered,  with  an  aggregate  mileage  of  sewers  125  miles 
greater  than  the  street  mileage.  In  Memphis  there  is  a 
double  system  of  sewer  pipes  (introduced  after  the  yellow 
fever  epidemic  of  1878),  one  set  for  the  surface  drainage  and 
another  for  household  waste.  A  few  other  cities  in  the 
United  States  have  also  adopted  this  "  separate  "  system. 

In  Germany  all  of  the  cities  of  over  50,000  population 
have  a  sewerage  system,  and  in  most  cases  this  extends  to 
practically  the  whole  populated  area.  Munich  and  Hanover, 
however,  are  notable  exceptions  to  this  rule.  In  Bremen, 
Dresden,  and  Cologne,  moreover,  and  indeed  in  more  than 
half  of  the  large  German  cities,  the  sewers  do  not  carry  off 
the  contents  of  privies.  The  cities  of  Holland  are  well  sew- 
ered. Amsterdam,  Leyden,  and  Dordrecht  in  Holland,  and 
Prague  in  Bohemia  have  each  adopted  the  separate  pipe 
system,  and  use  the  Lierneur  pneumatic  system  for  fecal 
matter.  In  France  only  the  largest  cities  have  even  good 
systems  of  storm-water  sewers,  and  so  large  a  town  as  Bor- 


252  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

deaux  has  but  60  miles  of  sewers  as  compared  with  240  miles 
of  streets,  while  Havre  as  late  as  1894  had  practically  no 
sewers.  The  use  of  the  Paris  sewers  for  household  waste 
has  recently  been  extended,  but  comparatively  little  has  yet 
been  done  in  this  direction.  In  other  countries  complete 
sewerage  systems  are  still  exceptional.  Among  the  recent 
constructions  may  be  mentioned  those  at  Rome,  Riga,  and 
Moscow.  At  St.  Petersburg  wooden  drains  are  still  used, 
and  in  many  other  cities  primitive  methods  of  sewage 
removal  are  even  yet  in  vogue. 

Final  Disposal 

Until  very  recently  sewers  were  built  only  to  carry  drain- 
age and  waste  matter  outside  of  the  densely  inhabited 
area,  beyond  which  reliance  was  placed  on  natural  drainage  ; 
but  with  the  continued  growth  of  urban  population  the 
question  of  final  disposition  of  sewage  has  demanded  further 
attention  in  many  places.  If  a  city  is  near  a  large  river 
with  swift  currents,  as  in  the  case  of  New  York,  Milan, 
Rome,  Vienna,  and  Budapest,  simple  discharge  into  these 
waters  is  still  considered  adequate.  If  the  current  is  not 
swift,  but  a  large  body  of  water  is  near  at  hand,  the  con- 
struction of  intercepting  and  outfall  sewers  generally  meets 
the  emergency.  Such  works  have  proved  effective  abroad 
at  Liverpool,  Bristol,  Brighton,  and  most  English  coast 
towns.  In  this  country  the  most  prominent  examples  of 
the  system  are  the  outfall  sewers,  for  the  metropolitan 
district  in  eastern  Massachusetts,  and  the  Chicago  Drain- 
age Canal  (30  miles  in  length,  and  built  at  a  cost  of 
130,000,000),  the  most  gigantic  sewer  in  the  world.  For 
inland  towns,  however,  such  systems  are  impracticable,  and 
other  steps  are  necessary  to  prevent  unsanitary  conditions. 
The  following  are  the  principal  methods  now  used  at 
inland  towns :  1,  broad  irrigation ;  2,  intermittent  nitra- 
tion ;  3,  mechanical  nitration ;  4,  mechanical  subsidence ; 
and  5,  chemical  precipitation. 

Broad  irrigation  consists  in   passing   the   sewage   in  its 


MUNICIPAL   IMPROVEMENTS.     I  253 

crude  stage  over  large  tracts  of  agricultural  land,  called 
sewage  farms.  The  system  is  used  in  Berlin,  Breslau, 
Bremen,  Brunswick,  and  a  few  other  German  cities,  and 
also  in  some  English  towns,  such  as  Rugby,  Leamington, 
and  Blackburn.  In  the  United  States,  it  has  been  adopted 
at  Los  Angeles,  Colorado  Springs,  and  at  a  few  smaller 
Western  cities,  where  the  need  of  water  for  irrigation  is  an 
important  element  in  deciding  the  choice  of  a  sewage  dis- 
posal system. 

Intermittent  filtration  consists  in  passing  the  sewage  over 
small  tracts  of  land  previously  prepared  by  deep  drainage. 
This  method  is  used  at  Merthyr  Tydvil,  in  Wales,  and  in 
this  country  at  Lawrence  and  South  Framingham,  Mass. 

Mechanical  filtration  is  used  at  Altoona,  Pawtucket,  and 
Taunton.  Sewage  disposal  by  means  of  mechanical  subsid- 
ence has  proved  to  be  very  unsatisfactory,  but  is  in  use  at 
Munich  and  Posen. 

The  purpose  of  chemical  precipitation  is  to  accelerate  the 
subsidence  of  solid  sewage.  It  was  first  tried  at  Paris,  in 
1740,  but  new  chemical  processes  have  since  been  discov- 
ered, and  most  precipitations  now  in  use  are  of  recent  origin. 
Chemical  precipitation  is  employed  at  London,  Glasgow, 
Manchester,  Sheffield,  Leeds,  Nottingham,  Salford,  and  many 
other  British  towns ;  at  Frankfort,  Leipzig,  Dresden,  and 
a  few  other  German  cities ;  at  Munich  and  Posen  ;  and  at 
Worcester  (Massachusetts)  and  a  few  smaller  places  in  the 
United  States. 

Two  important  questions  in  regard  to  street  and  sewer 
construction  are  :  1,  whether  the  work  is  done  by  a  munici- 
pal corps  of  employees  or  by  a  contractor  ;  and  2,  the  method 
of  meeting  the  cost. 

The  general  rule  in  regard  to  the  first  question  is  that  the 
construction  of  new  works,  large  reconstruction  schemes, 
and  extensive  repairs  are  made  by  contract.  Ordinary 
repairs  are  often  made  by  a  force  of  city  employees,  but 
frequently  street  pavement  contracts  require  that  the  pave- 
ment shall  be  kept  in  repair  for  a  stipulated  number  of 


254  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

years  by  the  contractor.  There  are,  however,  a  few  notable 
instances  where  municipal  public  works  are  executed  directly 
by  the  public  authorities.  The  Works  Department  of  the 
London  County  Council  is  probably  the  most  prominent 
example  of  such  public  activity.  This  acts  as  a  contractor 
to  the  various  other  committees  of  the  council ;  has  a 
force  of  engineers,  draughtsmen,  and  laborers ;  submits  esti- 
mates for  projected  works  ;  and  undertakes  the  construction 
of  such  works  as  are  assigned  to  it.  From  the  organization 
of  this  department,  in  1898,  to  March  31,  1899,  it  executed 
works  amounting  in  value  to  over  $4,000,000.  Other 
English  towns  which  exercise  municipal  control  over  con- 
struction work  are  Liverpool  and  Birmingham.  The  most 
prominent  example  of  direct  city  construction  work  in  the 
United  States  is  in  the  street  department  of  Boston. 

In  most  countries  the  general  rule  for  distributing  the 
expense  of  street  improvements  is  to  require  the  abutting 
property  owners  to  pay  for  the  cost  of  the  original  improve- 
ment, including  grading,  paving,  and  drainage.  In  Great 
Britain  the  municipalities  accomplish  this  by  refusing  to 
accept  a  street  as  a  public  way  until  it  has  been  put  in 
satisfactory  condition.  In  the  large  cities  of  the  United 
States  the  work  is  usually  carried  out  under  the  supervision 
of  the  municipality,  and  the  cost  is  collected  from  the  prop- 
erty owners  by  special  assessments.  This  is  the  system 
adopted  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Buffalo,  Mil- 
waukee, and  St.  Paul.1  In  some  cases,  however,  the  city 
pays  part  of  the  expense  out  of  the  funds  received  from  gen- 
eral taxation.  In  Cincinnati  the  city  pays  2  per  cent  for  the 
less  improved  streets,  and  one-half  for  the  streets  paved  with 
granite  or  asphalt.  In  St.  Louis,  if  a  street  assessment  ex- 
ceeds 25  per  cent  of  the  assessed  value  of  a  property,  the  city 
pays  the  excess.  In  Boston  the  city  pays  the  entire  cost  of 
street  construction.  Betterment  assessments  can  be  levied 
against  the  property  benefited,  but  in  practice  these  are  off- 
set by  land  and  grade  damages.  The  special  assessment 
method  also  is  used  in  the  United  States  for  reconstruction 

1  Engineering  News,  28 :  281. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I  255 

schemes.  In  Europe  part  of  the  cost  of  such  schemes  is 
usually  met  by  the  purchase  of  the  property  through  which 
the  street  runs,  and  the  re-sale  of  what  is  not  used  at  the 
enhanced  value  due  to  the  improvement.  In  France,  Italy, 
and  other  South  European  countries,  paving  expenses,  includ- 
ing one-half  of  the  cost  of  sidewalk  construction,  are  usually 
borne  by  the  municipality  out  of  its  general  revenues.  In 
some  cases  the  central  government  has  aided  very  largely, 
notably  in  the  Paris  and  Berlin  improvements. 

The  expense  of  maintaining  streets  is,  in  general,  borne  by 
the  municipalities  from  the  proceeds  of  general  taxation. 
Usually,  too,  the  city  pays  the  cost  of  replacing  a  worn-out 
pavement ;  but  in  St.  Paul  and  Buffalo  the  property  owners 
are  required  to  pay  for  repaving  as  well  as  for  the  original 
pavement,  and  in  Baltimore  two-thirds  of  the  cost  of  main- 
tenance is  assessed  on  the  property  owners,  in  proportion  to 
the  frontage  of  property  abutting  on  the  streets. 

SCAVENGING 

Brussels  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  first  of  modern 
cities  to  organize  the  work  of  scavenging.  The  present 
dumping  grounds  were  in  use  as  early  as  1560.  In  Paris 
during  the  eighteenth  century  the  government  made  con- 
tracts for  street  lighting  and  for  removing  refuse.  Each 
householder  was  required  to  sweep  his  refuse  into  heaps; 
the  city  swept  only  the  public  squares  and  a  strip  in  the 
middle  of  wide  streets.  In  1763  there  were  120  carts  used 
in  the  work  of  scavenging.  The  expense  of  street  cleaning 
at  this  time  was  $50,000. 

During  the  first  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  street 
cleaning  in  Brussels  was  done  by  a  contractor  who  paid  the 
city  for  the  privilege.  The  municipal  revenue  from  this 
source  was  6960  francs  in  1836,  and  26,940  francs  in  1846. 
About  1853  the  city  undertook  the  work  of  scavenging  di- 
rectly, and  the  profit  in  1856  reached  75,505  francs.  Soon, 
however,  the  revenue  began  to  be  reduced  by  the  removal  of 
the  contents  of  house  closets  —  the  most  valuable  refuse  — 


256  MUNICIPAL   ACTIVITIES 

through  the  sewers  ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  expenditures 
were  augmented  by  the  increasing  standard  of  cleanliness 
and  the  longer  hauls  for  final  disposition  ;  in  consequence 
of  which  the  outgo  shortly  became  more  than  the  income. 
Only  two  years  after  the  date  just  mentioned  there  was  a 
net  outlay  of  11,950  francs,  and  by  1865  this  had  risen  to 
102,000  francs.  This  situation  led  to  a  brief  renewal  of  the 
contract  system  —  the  city  this  time  paying  the  contractor,1 
—  but  the  work  was  poorly  done,  and  in  1871  it  again  be- 
came a  municipal  undertaking.  In  1853  the  city  of  Paris 
undertook  to  do  the  work  of  street-sweeping  for  those  house- 
holders who  voluntarily  made  an  arrangement  with  the  mu- 
nicipal authorities ;  and  by  1873  more  than  half  of  the  streets 
were  cleaned  by  the  city  under  such  private  agreements.  In 
that  year  the  city  undertook  to  do  the  whole  work,  and  made 
the  assessment  obligatory  on  all  householders. 

Colonel  George  E.  Waring,  Jr.,  in  Street  Gleaning  and  Its 
Effects,  describes  the  present  systems  of  street  cleaning  in 
the  principal  cities  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  also  in 
London  and  Birmingham.  Not  only  the  towns  named  by 
him,  but  all  of  the  German  cities  of  over  50,000  population, 
have  a  municipal  street-cleaning  department,  and  also  a 
street-sprinkling  force.  Diisseldorf  (population  170,000) 
is  the  largest  place  where  the  entire  street-cleaning  work  is 
still  a  duty  of  the  householders.  The  Berlin  force  of  1000 
men  and  200  sprinklers  is  of  course  the  largest,  but  some 
of  the  smaller  cities  have  a  much  larger  per  capita  force  ;  for 
example,  Strasburg  (220),  Hanover  (225),  Bremen  (150), 
Cologne  (315),  and  Dresden  (350).  Breslau  (116)  and 
Munich  (53)  have  the  smallest  street  cleaning  and  sprin- 
kling force  in  proportion  to  population. 

The  English  towns  all  undertake  the  work  of  street  clean- 
ing, and  in  most  cases  domestic  scavenging  (removal  of  gar- 
bage) is  also  done  by  the  municipality.  Some  towns  go 
even  farther.  Out  of  90  towns,  13  remove  trade  and  garden 
refuse  as  well  as  house  garbage  without  extra  charge,  while 
several  other  towns  perform  the  additional  service  for  those 

1  The  amount  paid  was  81,000  francs. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I 


257 


who  pay  a  special  tax.  Of  the  same  90  towns,  19  cleanse 
the  private  courts  and  alleys  in  addition  to  the  public  streets.1 
Of  85  towns,  70  employ  their  own  staff  for  the  collection 
of  the  refuse ;  2  have  a  municipal  force,  but  also  employ  a 
contractor  for  a  part  of  the  work ;  and  only  13  are  entirely 
dependent  upon  contractors.2  For  the  final  disposal  of  ref- 
use, a  number  of  the  larger  towns  have  now  "  dust  destroy- 
ers," or  garbage  cremators.  The  first  cremator  was  built  at 
Leeds,  where  a  second  one  has  since  been  erected ;  while 
others  have  been  established  at  Liverpool,  Bradford,  Not- 
tingham, several  London  districts,  and  also  in  smaller  towns. 
The  following  table  gives  the  number  of  cells,  height  of 
chimney,  daily  capacity  for  refuse,  and  cost  of  the  refuse 
destroyers  in  some  of  the  English  cities  : 3 — 


Cities 

Number  of 
Cells 

Height  of 
Chimney 
(Feet) 

Daily 
Capacity 
(Tons) 

Cost 

Leeds  A    

10 

150 

120 

£7,282 

Leeds  B    
Bradford  

10 
12 

120 

180 

74 

7,466 
11,892 

Bolton  

8 

180 

60 

9  200 

Nottingham  

6 

160 

100 

6,361 

Newcastle     

6 

160 

30 

6  015 

Preston     .         .... 

g 

180 

32 

4  121 

Salford                   .     .    . 

Q 

180 

28 

2  400 

Derby  

Q 

160 

50 

9,644 

Liverpool  

24 

170 

Whitechapel      .... 
Wandsworth     .... 
Battersea  .    . 

8 
12 
12 

180 
180 
160 

60 
90 

12,691 
6,613 
11  400 

Municipal  street  cleaning  was  begun  in  Glasgow  on  a 
small  scale  in  1800 ;  but  the  present  cleansing  department 
was  organized  in  1868.  It  consisted  in  1896  of  1089  men, 
with  405  vehicles  and  265  horses.  The  principal  streets  are 
swept  nightly,  and  are  also  "picked"  during  the  day,  the 

1  Boulnois,  Municipal  and  Sanitary  Engineer's  Handbook,  pp.  259,  276. 

2  Moore,  Sanitary  Engineering,  p.  130. 

8  Boulnois,  Municipal  and  Sanitary  Engineer's  Handbook,  p.  267. 


258  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

"  pickings  "  being  placed  in  bins  sunk  in  the  pavements,  and 
removed  at  night.  Second-class  streets  are  swept  every 
other  night,  and  streets  of  less  importance  at  longer  inter- 
vals. Private  streets  and  courts,  as  well  as  public  streets, 
are  cleaned  by  the  municipal  force.  Every  court  is  swept 
at  least  once  a  day,  and  the  dirtier  courts  are  regularly  hose- 
washed.  Refuse  from  residence  and  business  houses,  and 
excremental  matter  from  dwellings  not  furnished  with  water- 
closets,  are  also  removed  by  the  cleansing  department.  A 
refuse  destroyer  disposes  by  cremation  of  part  of  the  mate- 
rial collected  ;  but  the  larger  part  — 1000  tons  a  day  —  is 
used  as  manure.  The  city  owns  some  900  railway  cars  for 
transporting  this.  About  60  per  cent  of  the  manure  is 
sold  to  farmers,  and  is  conveyed  to  farms  sometimes  seventy 
miles  away  from  the  city  ;  the  remainder  is  used  on  farms 
owned  by  the  city  department.  The  total  investment  of  the 
city  in  works  and  plant  was  in  1896  11,200,000.  The  total 
expenditure  was  $550,000  ;  revenue,  $170,000  ;  special  as- 
sessments, $60,000  ;  leaving  $320,000  to  be  paid  from  the 
general  revenue  of  the  city.1 

Turning  to  the  United  States,  the  municipality  of  New 
York  has  spent  considerable  sums  for  street  cleaning  since 
the  middle  of  the  century.  After  1866  the  work  was  under 
the  supervision  of  the  Board  of  Health ;  in  1873  the  author- 
ity was  transferred  to  the  Police  Department ;  and  in  1881 
a  separate  department  of  street  cleaning  was  created.  But 
despite  the  change  in  organization  and  constantly  increasing 
expenditures,  the  work  continued  to  be  very  poorly  done 
until  the  administration  of  Colonel  Waring,  beginning  in 
1895.  In  1894  there  were  1275  sweepers  and  908  drivers. 
Under  the  direction  of  Colonel  Waring  the  number  of 
sweepers  was  increased  to  1400,  but  the  improvement  in 
the  quality  of  the  work  done  was  far  more  than  commensu- 
rate with  the  increased  number  of  laborers  ;  and  so  far  as 
concerned  street  sweeping  proper,  the  improved  condition  of 
the  streets  was  due  mainly  to  better  discipline  of  the  force 
and  the  application  of  business  methods.  One  of  the  most 

1  Bell  and  Paton,  Municipal  Glasgow,  Ch.  16. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I 


259 


important  achievements  under  the  supervision  of  Colonel 
Waring  was  the  great  increase  in  the  area  of  streets  cleared 
of  snow  by  contract.  In  this  field  the  improvement  was  not 
simply  the  more  efficient  execution  of  work  already  under- 
taken, but  was  an  increase  in  the  scope  of  municipal  action 
with  a  corresponding  increase  in  expenditure. 

Even  before  the  time  of  Colonel  Waring,  street  cleaning 
was  a  more  important  municipal  work  in  New  York  than  in 
any  other  American  city,  and  it  still  remains  far  ahead  of 
other  cities.  In  all  the  boroughs  of  the  extended  city  there 
are  now  employed  a  total  of  3600  inen  as  street  sweepers, 
and  1500  men  as  garbage  removers.  The  final  disposition 
of  garbage  and  street  refuse  in  New  York  is  performed  by 
contract.  The  bulk  of  the  refuse  has  been  carried  out  to  sea 
or  used  for  filling  in  low  lands;  a  small  proportion  is  utilized 
at  works  on  Barren  Island.1  Street  sprinkling  in  New 
York  is  not  a  municipal  function. 

iNEW  YORK  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 

CART  LOADS  OF  REFUSE  COLLECTED,  1898 
City  Record,  May  29,  1899 


Boroughs 

Garbage 

Ashes  and 
Street  Sweepings 

Total 

Manhattan  and  Bronx 

164,318 
120,064 
11,086 
8,911 

1,458,723 
992,413 
41,750 
20,715 

1,623,041 
1,112,477 
52,835 
29,626 

Queens  

Richmond  ..... 

Total  

304,378 

2,513,601 

2,817,979 

Boroughs 

Final  Disposition 

Total 

At  Sea 

Barren 
Island 

In  Lots 

Otherwise 

Manhattan  and  Bronx 

969,798 
136,871 

166,075 
120,064 

141,841 
855,542 
52,835 
24,592 

362  637 
5,034 

1,620,351 
1,112,477 

52,836 
29,626 

Queens  

Richmond  

Total  

1,086,669 

286,139 

1,074,810 

367,671 

2,815,289 

260  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

In  most  of  the  other  large  cities  of  the  United  States  some 
part  of  the  streets  is  swept  at  public  expense ;  but  in  general 
the  size  of  the  force  employed  indicates  that  a  comparatively 
small  amount  of  work  is  done.  St.  Louis,  the  fourth  largest 
city  in  the  United  States,  employs  but  forty  men  for  street 
cleaning.  The  cities  with  the  largest  number  of  men  are 
Chicago  (675),  Pittsburg  (485),  Washington  (388),  Boston 
(370),  and  Cincinnati  (300).  For  the  removal  of  garbage 
Boston  employs  600  men ;  Chicago,  460 ;  and  Washington, 
250.  This  work  is  still  done  by  contract  in  a  number  of 
the  largest  cities,  as  Philadelphia,  St.  Louis,  Buffalo,  Cleve- 
land, Columbus,  and  Indianapolis.  Indeed,  New  York,  and, 
to  a  smaller  degree,  Chicago,  Boston,  Baltimore,  and  New 
Orleans,  are  practically  the  only  large  towns  in  which  a  mu- 
nicipal force  undertakes  this  work.  The  smaller  American 
cities  still  depend  largely  on  the  householders  for  the  removal 
of  garbage.  In  the  United  States  street  sprinkling  is  usually 
done  by  private  arrangements  with  property  owners. 

PUBLIC   BATHS 

The  destruction  and  decline  of  the  ancient  cities  in  the 
Roman  Empire  brought  with  it  the  ruin  of  the  magnificent 
public  baths ;  and  not  until  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  do  we  find  the  faintest  attempt  at  similar  establish- 
ments. Open-air  bathing  places  in  streams  and  lakes  have,  of 
course,  existed  near  every  town,  and  the  management  of  such 
places  by  the  municipalities  in  German  cities  dates  at  least 
as  far  back  as  the  thirteenth  century.  But  it  was  not  until 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  that  enclosed  bathing- 
houses  were  put  in  operation.  The  movement  began  in 
London,  and  has  been  most  active  in  Great  Britain  and 
(since  1866)  in  Germany.  Almost  every  British  town  of 
over  50,000  inhabitants  (to  be  exact,  58  towns  out  of  65) 
have  now  municipal  bath-houses.  In  London  there  are 
30  establishments ;  in  Manchester,  9 ;  in  Liverpool,  8 ;  in 
Glasgow,  7 ;  in  Newcastle,  6  ;  in  Birmingham,  5  ;  and  in 
Bristol  and  Salford,  each  4.  In  a  few  cities,  as  Liverpool, 
London,  and  Glasgow,  there  are  also  public  wash-houses, 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I  261 

where  family  washing  may  be  done.  Besides  the  large 
cities,  many  of  the  smaller  English  boroughs  have  built 
public  bath-houses.  Among  the  German  cities,  there  are 
municipal  baths  in  40  out  of  55  places  with  a  population 
of  over  50,000,  and  also  in  smaller  cities.  In  other  coun- 
tries, municipal  baths  may  be  found  occasionally  in  the 
larger  cities.  Paris,  Bordeaux,  Lille,  Roubaix,  Rheims, 
Vienna,  Budapest,  Prague,  Rome,  Stockholm,  all  have  pub- 
lic baths.  Of  the  cities  without  public  baths,  the  most 
prominent  are  Marseilles,  Rouen,  Nice,  and  St.-Etienne. 

In  the  United  States  municipal  baths  are  very  uncommon. 
Even  open-air  baths  were  not  under  municipal  management 
until  about  thirty  years  ago,  when  Boston  assumed  such 
control ;  but  in  most  of  the  larger  cities,  the  open-air  baths 
are  now  found  to  be  under  the  management  of  the  munici- 
palities. The  first  enclosed  municipal  bath  was  established 
at  Yonkers  (New  York),  in  1894,  and  since  then  enclosed 
baths  have  been  built  at  Chicago,  Boston,  Buffalo,  Provi- 
dence, Brookline,  and  Worcester. 

In  comparing  the  number  of  public  baths  in  America  with 
that  in  European  countries,  it  should  be  remembered,  first, 
that  in  the  American  cities  the  private  houses  contain  baths 
to  a  very  much  larger  extent  than  in  Europe  ;  and  second, 
that  in  Europe  those  who  use  the  baths  pay  fees  which  nearly 
or  quite  meet  the  expenses  of  operation,  whereas  in  the  United 
States,  where  municipal  baths  have  been  established,  they 
are  in  nearly  every  case  supported  from  general  taxation. 

PAKKS   AND   PLAYGROUNDS 

Before  the  nineteenth  century,  the  only  public  parks  in  or 
near  large  cities  were  those  established  and  maintained  by 
royal  estates.  Thus  in  the  Westminster  district  of  London 
there  were  St.  James  and  Hyde  parks,  which  had  been  Crown 
property  since  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.1  To  these  was  added, 

1  Hyde  Park  originally  belonged  to  Westminster  Abbey,  but  came  into 
the  possession  of  the  Crown  on  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries.  In  1652 
it  was  sold  by  the  Commonwealth  government;  but  at  the  Restoration  in 
1660  it  was  repurchased,  and  under  Charles  II,  St.  James's  Park  was  extended. 


262  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

about  1815,  Regent's  Park,  to  the  north  of  the  other  two. 
In  Paris,  the  royal  gardens  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution 
included  the  Tuileries,  Luxembourg,  and  the  Jardin  des 
Plantes.  The  tract  now  forming  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  was 
also  reserved  by  an  edict  of  Louis  XIV  in  1679 ;  but  in 
common  with  other  more  distant  parks  was  too  far  from  the 
population  centres  to  be  effective  as  urban  resorts.  In  1828 
the  strip  of  land  to  the  north  of  the  Tuileries  gardens  was 
transferred  to  the  municipality,  and  the  Avenue  des  Champs- 
Elysees  was  laid  out  and  constructed  on  an  elaborate  plan. 

Important  additions  were  made  to  the  London  open  spaces 
by  the  formation  of  Victoria  Park  in  1842  and  Battersea  Park 
in  1852.  The  Metropolitan  Board  of  Works,  established 
in  1855,  was  given  the  management  of  some  of  the  existing 
grounds,  and  also  established  a  number  of  new  public 
parks.  A  few  other  British  towns  made  some  advance  in 
this  direction  about  the  same  time.  At  Liverpool,  the  first 
large  public  ground  was  Prince's  Park,  opened  in  1843. 
Wavertree  Park  was  added  in  1858.  In  Leeds  the  grounds 
of  Woodhouse  Manor  were  opened  to  the  public  as  a  munici- 
pal park  in  1857.  Five  years  earlier  the  Bois  de  Boulogne 
and  other  government  grounds  in  Paris  had  been  transferred 
to  the  municipality,  and  in  1860  the  Bois  de  Vincennes  con- 
stituted a  new  accession.  To  these  and  other  parks  extensive 
improvements  were  made,  including  driveways  connecting 
the  outlying  parks  with  the  centre  of  the  city,  in  connection 
with  the  other  great  works  of  the  Haussmann  period. 

The  park  movement  in  America  is  of  much  later  date. 
The  New  England  towns  had  each  in  the  earlier  days  a  con- 
siderable tract  of  common  land ;  but  these  tracts  were  gener- 
ally sold  to  private  holders,  and  only  in  the  case  of  Boston 
Common  was  any  considerable  park  area  left  in  the  heart  of 
a  large  city.  In  1812  a  few  acres  of  land  were  purchased 
for  a  park  in  Philadelphia ;  but  this  was  merely  the  nucleus 
for  the  present  Fairmount  Park  in  that  city.  Legislative 
authority  for  a  large  park  on  Manhattan  Island  was  given  in 
1851,  and  seven  years  later  the  work  of  preparing  the  now 
famous  Central  Park  of  860  acres  was  begun.  In  1860  the 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I  263 

city  of  Baltimore  acquired  a  private  estate  of  700  acres, 
which  was  formed  into  Druid  Hill  Park. 

These  were  the  only  well-developed  parks  in  the  United 
States  in  1870.  Since  then,  however,  all  of  the  important 
cities  have  made  provisions  in  this  direction.  In  1869  Bos- 
ton began  the  preparation  of  Franklin  Park  ;  by  1886  twenty 
cities  had  large  park  areas ;  and  since  that  time  municipal 
parks  have  increased  with  wonderful  rapidity.  During  the 
last  two  decades  the  large  British  and  German  cities  have 
also  very  generally  entered  actively  in  this  field.  The  cities 
of  other  countries  are  participating  in  the  general  interest  in 
parks,  though  to  a  smaller  extent. 

The  recent  park  movement  has  included  many  features,  in 
addition  to  the  provision  for  large  reservations,  with  drives, 
gardens,  lawns,  terraces,  and  woods.  In  the  European  cities 
the  sites  of  the  old  fortifications,  rendered  useless  by  the 
growth  of  the  cities,  have  been  utilized  for  broad  parked 
avenues,  or  boulevards,1 — a  name  which  has  also  been  ap- 
plied to  other  tree-lined  avenues  constructed  as  a  portion  of 
the  park  system  of  the  cities.  In  America,  Chicago  led  the 
way  in  the  construction  of  similar  boulevards  uniting  the 
various  parks  into  a  connected  system.  Another  feature 
in  the  recent  development  has  been  the  provision  for  many 
small  parks  or  public  squares  scattered  throughout  the  con- 
gested districts.  In  this  field  the  German  cities  have  accom- 
plished most.  In  both  small  and  large  parks,  provisions  have 
been  made  in  many  cities  for  outdoor  sports ;  and  in  some 
instances  well-equipped  park  gymnasiums  are  in  operation. 
More  exceptional,  but  growing  in  number,  are  instances 
of  scientifically  arranged  botanical  gardens  and  zoological 
museums. 

Paris  has  by  far  the  richest  park  equipment  of  any  city  in 
the  world.  The  total  area  of  parks  within  an  afternoon's 
excursion  of  the  city  is  20,000  acres,  while  farther  away  are 
still  more  extensive  public  grounds,  such  as  Versailles  and 
Fontainebleau.  The  most  important  of  the  near-by  parks  are 
the  Bois  de  Boulogne  and  the  Bois  de  Vincennes,  each  with 

1  A  corruption  of  the  German  "  Bollwerk  "  (bulwark). 


264  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

an  area  of  over  2200  acres,  which  cost  for  original  establish- 
ment nearly  -18,000,000.  Of  the  smaller  parks  the  most 
important  are  the  Buttes-Chaumont  of  62  acres  and  the  Mont- 
souris  of  45  acres,  the  former  located  in  the  northeastern  part 
of  the  city  and  the  latter  in  the  south.  There  are  all  together 
nearly  a  hundred  squares,  parks,  and  gardens  throughout  the 
city.  In  addition  there  are  numerous  broad,  tree-lined 
boulevards  under  the  control  of  the  park  authorities,  the 
most  noteworthy  of  which  are  the  Avenue  des  Champs- 
Elysees  and  the  Avenue  de  Bois  de  Boulogne,  from  the 
centre  of  the  city  to  the  park.  The  Jardin  des  Plantes, 
maintained  by  the  central  government,  is  mainly  a  botanical 
and  zoological  garden. 

The  parks  of  London  stand  next  in  importance  to  those  of 
Paris.  The  County  Council  now  controls  18  parks,  39  gar- 
dens and  playgrounds,  and  30  small  open  spaces,  with  a  total 
area  of  3814  acres.  The  city  corporation  maintains  10  city 
commons,  as  well  as  Epping  Forest,  which  comprises  6500 
acres.  In  addition  there  are  half  a  dozen  large  royal  parks 
and  numerous  small  green  spots  maintained  by  the  local 
authorities.  The  total  park  area  within  the  metropolitan 
district  is  over  13,000  acres.  Within  a  six-mile  radius  of 
Westminster  Bridge  there  are  5300  acres  of  parks;  but 
nearly  two-thirds  of  this  lies  to  the  west  of  the  bridge;  and 
there  are  still  large  sections  in  the  eastern  part  of  London 
with  no  important  parks.  The  arrangements  for  games  and 
sports  in  the  grounds  under  the  control  of  the  County  Coun- 
cil are  especially  notable:  there  are  385  cricket  pitches,  466 
tennis  courts,  45  skating  ponds,  4  golf  links,  4  lacrosse  fields, 
4  bowling  greens,  6  gymnasiums  for  adults  and  32  for  children. 

In  the  United  States  the  most  extensive  park  system  is 
that  for  the  metropolitan  district  in  eastern  Massachusetts. 
Under  the  control  of  a  state  board  there  are  now  8  parks 
irom  24  to  4200  acres  in  extent,  aggregating  8090  acres;  10 
miles  of  parkways  along  the  Charles,  Neponset,  and  Mystic 
rivers ;  and  a  large  bathing  beach  at  Revere  on  the  seacoast. 
The  principal  park  reservations  are  Middlesex  Fells,  to  the 
north  of  Boston,  and  the  Stony  Brook  woods  and  the  Blue 


MUNICIPAL   IMPROVEMENTS.     I  265 

Hills  to  the  south.  Besides  these  most  of  the  cities  and 
towns  within  this  district  have  also  important  park  systems. 
The  city  parks  of  Boston  include  2360  acres,  with  125  acres 
of  ponds  and  rivers  and  34  miles  of  driveways.  From  the 
Public  Garden  the  broad  tree-lined  boulevard  known  as 
Commonwealth  Avenue  extends  to  the  Back  Bay  Fens; 
and  from  there  a  series  of  parkways  unites  the  various  city 
parks,  ending  at  the  Marine  Park  on  the  shores  of  the 
harbor.  In  this  chain  of  parks  are  the  extensive  botanical 
gardens  of  the  Arnold  Arboretum,  owned  by  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, but  open  to  the  public.  Boston  has  also  the  first 
open-air  gymnasium  established  in  a  public  park,  at  the 
Charles  River  Embankment. 

The  various  parks  of  New  York  city  aggregate  nearly 
7000  acres;  but  with  the  exceptions  of  Central  Park  on 
Manhattan  Island  and  Prospect  Park  in  Brooklyn,  the  large 
reservations  are  in  the  distant  outskirts  of  the  city.  There 
are  no  parked  boulevards  into  the  heart  of  the  city  such  as 
Commonwealth  Avenue  in  Boston.  Riverside  Drive  along 
the  Hudson  River  is  the  most  accessible  boulevard,  and  is 
probably  the  most  beautiful  parkway  in  the  world.  More 
distant  are  the  Ocean  Parkway  and  Bay  Ridge  Shore  Drive 
in  Brooklyn,  and  the  new  boulevards  under  construction  in 
the  borough  of  the  Bronx.  One  of  the  northern  parks  is 
divided  into  a  large  botanical  garden  and  a  zoological  park, 
each  of  which  is  under  the  immediate  control  of  a  private 
society.  Along  the  Harlem  River  there  is  a  two-mile  speed- 
way for  fast  driving,  constructed  at  a  cost  of  13,000,000. 
The  number  of  small  parks  has  been  very  limited  in  New 
York,  but  within  recent  years  several  new  ones  have  been 
constructed.  Some  of  these  are  equipped  with  gymnastic 
apparatus,  while  the  larger  parks  have  provisions  for  out- 
door sports.  A  special  feature  of  New  York  open-air 
arrangements  are  the  recreation  piers  along  the  water  front. 
The  main  floor  of  these  piers  is  left  for  ordinary  commercial 
purposes;  but  the  second  floor,  which  has  a  roof  but  no 
sides,  serves  as  a  recreation  space,  and  is  a  favorite  resort 
on  hot  summer  evenings. 


266  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

Philadelphia  has  over  4000  acres  of  parks,  and  Chicago 
and  St.  Louis  each  over  2000  acres.  The  Chicago  parks 
are  linked  by  nearly  forty  miles  of  boulevards,  the  most 
popular  of  which  are  the  Midway  Plaisance  and  the  Lake 
Shore  Drive.  There  are  practically  no  small  parks  in  Chi- 
cago. Washington  has  3600  acres  of  parks,  and  with  its 
broad  avenues,  which  have  a  parkway  aspect,  is  by  far  the 
best  equipped,  in  proportion  to  population,  of  any  city  in 
America.  In  addition  to  large  parks,  Washington  has  its 
botanical  gardens  and  an  abundance  of  small  park  areas. 
One  of  the  principal  systems  now  under  construction  is  that 
of  Essex  County,  New  Jersey,  which  includes  the  city  of 
Newark  and  a  large  number  of  suburban  cities.  The  area 
of  parks  in  this  system  is  about  2500  acres. 

All  of  the  other  American  cities  of  over  100,000  popula- 
tion, with  the  exception  of  Jersey  City  and  St.  Joseph,  have 
large  parks,  and  most  of  the  cities  of  over  40,000  popula- 
tion, and  some  smaller  cities,  have  at  least  acquired  lands 
for  park  purposes.  The  Lynn  Woods  in  Massachusetts  and 
the  parks  of  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  deserve  special  mention 
among  cities  not  in  the  metropolitan  class.  New  Orleans 
is  better  provided  with  parked  avenues  than  any  other 
American  city.  The  original  plan  of  that  city  provided  for 
a  number  of  broad  streets  (notably  Canal  Street,  200  feet  in 
width),  and  these  have  recently  been  furnished  with  park 
features.  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul  are  noted  among  the 
Western  cities  for  the  number  of  small  parks.  Buffalo  and 
Pittsburg  have  botanical  gardens,  and  most  of  the  large 
cities  have  flower  displays  in  the  public  parks. 

Outside  of  Paris  and  London,  the  cities  of  Europe  have 
generally  a  smaller  park  area  than  American  cities  of  the 
same  size.  In  Great  Britain,  the  best-equipped  places  are 
Newcastle  (1270  acres),  Glasgow  (1000  acres),  Leeds  (660 
acres),  and  Norwich  (600  acres).  Liverpool  has  only  about 
600  acres,  Birmingham  but  360  acres,  Manchester  and  Not- 
tingham each  300  acres.  The  park  areas  are,  however, 
usually  well  distributed  throughout  the  cities.  Most  of 
the  large  cities,  too,  have  a  number  of  small  playgrounds  ; 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     I  267 

Glasgow  has  13;  Manchester,  24;  Leeds,  16;  Salford,  17;  and 
Newcastle,  13.  Municipal  botanical  gardens  are  provided 
also  in  Glasgow,  Leeds,  Sheffield,  Nottingham,  and  Cardiff, 
in  addition  to  which  there  are  large  government  gardens  at 
Kew,  Edinburgh,  and  Dublin. 

Berlin  has  the  largest  extent  of  parks  of  any  German  city. 
The  total  area  within  the  city  limits  is  about  1100  acres, 
about  one-third  of  which  is  municipal,  while  the  municipal- 
ity also  owns  two  large  parks  in  the  outskirts.  Munich  has 
about  1100  acres  of  parks ;  Magdeburg,  600  acres ;  Dresden, 
560  acres  (mostly  in  government  parks);  Breslau,  350  acres; 
and  Hamburg,  300  acres.  Other  German  cities  have  a  much 
smaller  park  area.  Frankfort-on-the-Main  has  less  than  90 
acres,  while  Altona,  Crefeld,  and  Essen  have  each  less  than 
50  acres.  On  the  other  hand,  the  German  cities  are  well 
endowed  with  parked  boulevards  and  small  park  spaces. 
Hamburg  has  over  100  miles  of  tree-planted  avenues  ;  Dres- 
den, 90  miles ;  Berlin,  65  miles,  including  the  famous  Unter 
den  Linden;  Munich,  35  miles.  Berlin  has  over  100  open 
spaces  ;  Munich,  62  ;  Hamburg,  58;  and  Dresden,  48. 

The  cities  of  Holland  and  Belgium,  as  well  as  those  of 
France  (Paris  excepted),  resemble  the  German  cities  with 
respect  to  park  arrangements.  Boulevards  and  small  parks 
and  squares  are  more  strongly  emphasized  than  large  rural 
parks.  Brussels  has  a  good-sized  park,  and  Marseilles  has  a 
park  of  400  acres ;  but  Roubaix  has  only  90  acres,  and  Brest 
only  40  acres,  while  Toulon  and  Dijon  report  no  parks. 
In  other  European  countries,  only  a  few  of  the  largest 
cities  have  extensive  public  parks.  St.  Petersburg  has  350 
acres  ;  Stockholm,  160  acres  ;  and  Copenhagen  and  Geneva, 
about  100  acres  each.  Rome  is  the  only  Italian  city  where 
municipal  parks  are  under  way.  Milan  has  but  3  acres 
of  public  parks,  and  Bologna  only  8  acres.  The  cities  in 
these  countries  (Russia,  Switzerland,  Italy,  etc.)  have,  how- 
ever, many  public  squares,  or  places,  and  boulevards,  as  the 
Prado  at  Madrid,  the  Prater  in  Vienna,  and  Andrassy- 
strasse  in  Budapest.  In  the  outskirts,  too,  there  are  usually 
large  parks  attached  to  the  villas  of  ancient  families,  which, 


268  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

in  some  cases,  are  open  to  the  public  on  certain  days. 
Botanical  and  zoological  gardens  in  the  European  cities  are 
not,  as  a  rule,  under  municipal  management,  but  under  the 
control  of  the  central  government. 

The  management  of  parks  in  American  cities  is  nearly 
always  under  the  control  of  a  special  board,  either  locally 
elected  or  appointed  by  municipal  authority.  Such  park 
boards  are  found  even  in  Boston  and  Cleveland,  where  sin- 
gle-headed departments  are  the  prevailing  system.  Usually 
the  park  boards  consist  of  from  three  to  five  members,  but 
in  Buffalo  there  are  fifteen  commissioners.  Chicago  has 
three  separate  boards  for  the  parks  in  different  sections  of 
the  city.  In  New  York  city  there  are  three  park  commis- 
sioners, each  of  whom  has  jurisdiction  over  the  parks  in  a 
certain  district.  St.  Louis  has  a  single  park  commissioner. 

In  almost  every  case  the  park  boards  are  independent  of 
the  other  authorities  having  control  over  municipal  improve- 
ments. Only  in  St.  Louis  is  the  park  commissioner  made  a 
member  of  the  municipal  board  of  public  improvements. 
The  independence  of  the  park  management  from  the  other 
branches  of  municipal  administration  is  emphasized  in  the 
case  of  state-appointed  boards  at  Chicago,  the  Massachusetts 
metropolitan  park  commission,  and  the  commission  for  the 
proposed  interstate  park  along  the  palisades  of  the  Hudson 
River. 

PUBLIC   WORKS   ADMINISTRATION 

For  the  management  of  other  public  improvements  the 
more  general  system  in  American  cities  is  a  board  of  water 
trustees  controlling  the  waterworks,  and  a  board  of  public 
works  directing  the  work  of  street  paving  and  sewer  con- 
struction. But  the  tendency  toward  single-headed  depart- 
ments in  cities  is  growing,  while  a  few  places  have  taken 
some  steps  toward  the  establishment  of  one  general  authority 
over  all  the  public  improvements.  Thus,  Chicago  has  had 
since  1876  a  single  commissioner  of  works,  who  has  control 
over  street  paving  and  cleaning,  sewers,  the  water-supply 


MUNICIPAL   IMPROVEMENTS.     I  269 

service,  the  river  and  harbor,  and  public  buildings  ;  but 
there  are  also  a  board  of  local  improvements  and  the  Sani- 
tary District  Trustees.  Boston  has  a  single  superintendent 
of  streets  for  streets,  bridges,  fences,  and  sewers,  and  a  sin- 
gle water  commissioner  ;  but  each  has  charge  of  a  distinct 
department,  while  there  are  separate  boards  which  control 
the  work  of  street  openings  and  the  construction  of  the 
rapid  transit  subways.  New  York  and  St.  Louis  have  each 
a  board  of  public  improvements  composed  of  commissioners, 
each  of  whom  has  control  over  a  subordinate  division.  In 
St.  Louis  the  board  consists  of  a  president,  the  street  com- 
missioner, water  commissioner,  harbor  and  wharf  commis- 
sioner, park  commissioner,  and  sewers  commissioner;  and 
in  New  York  of  a  president  and  six  commissioners  of 
bridges,  highways,  sewers,  street  cleaning,  water  supply, 
and  public  buildings,  respectively.  But  separate  boards 
control  the  construction  of  the  new  Croton  aqueduct  and 
the  rapid  transit  tunnel.  Philadelphia  and  Cleveland  have 
each  a  single  director  of  public  works,  with  subordinate 
heads  over  the  street  and  waterworks  bureaus. 


CHAPTER  XII 
MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     II 

WATER  SUPPLY 

Authorities.  —  JOHN  F.  FANNING  :  A  Treatise  on  Water  Supply  and  Hy- 
draulic Engineering,  1877. — :E.  SHERMAN  GOULD:  The  Elements  of 
Water  Supply  Engineering,  1899.  —  WILLIAM  R.  BILLINGS  :  Some  Details 
of  Waterworks  Construction,  1889.  —  M.  N.  BAKER:  Manual  of  Ameri- 
can Waterworks,  1897.  — WILLIAM  P.  MASON  :  Water  Supply,  considered 
principally  from  a  Sanitary  Standpoint.  — JAMES  W.  HILL:  The  Purifi- 
cation of  Public  Water  Supplies,  1898.  —  ALLEN  HAZEN  :  The  Filtration 
of  Public  Water  Supplies,  1895.  —  GEORGE  W.  FULLER  :  A  Report  on 
the  Purification  of  the  Ohio  River  Water  at  Louisville. — GEORGE  W. 
RAFTER  :  The  Microscopic  Examination  of  Potable  Water.  —  GEORGE 
C.  WHIPPLE  :  The  Microscopy  of  Drinking  Water.  —  HENRY  C.  MEYER  : 
Water  Waste  Prevention.  —  A.  P.  FOLWELL  :  Water  Supply  Engineer- 
ing.—  JAMES  H.  FUERTES:  Water  and  Public  Health.  —  MANSFIELD 
MERRIAM:  Elements  of  Sanitary  Engineering. — WILLIAM  HUMBER  : 
Water  Supply  of  Cities  and  Towns,  1876.  —  Municipal  Affairs,  2  : 710. 
—  Engineering  Magazine,  17  :  937.  —  Edinburgh  Review,  188  : 151.  — 
Transactions  of  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers,  6 : 107  ;  34 : 23, 
185;  38:1,  115;  43:244. 

PUBLIC  LIGHTING 

C.  W.  BAKER  :  Monopolies  and  the  People,  pt.  I,  ch.  5.  ;  pt.  II,  ch.  4  ;  pt. 
Ill,  ch.  2.  — E.  W.  BEMIS:  Municipal  Monopolies.  —  A.  R.  FOOTE  :  Public 
Ownership. — J.  H.  GRAY,  in  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  Vols.  12,  13, 
14.  —  Reports  of  Massachusetts  Gas  and  Electric  Light  Commissioners.  — 
Municipal  Affairs,  4  :  520.  —  Penny  Magazine,  3  :  373-492.  —  La  Grande 
Encyclopedie,  article  ficlairage.  —  Annals  of  American  Academy  of  Social 
and  Political  Science,  2  : 715  ;  11 : 1  ;  16  : 318.  — American  Economic  Asso- 
ciation Publications,  5:1;  6  : 287-471.  —  Journal  of  Franklin  Institute, 
31:231;  51:289;  53:385;  55:207;  57:235;  58:35;  63:209;  65:238; 
70: 13  ;  100 : 243  ;  101 : 113,  297  ;  102: 32-35  ;  105  : 415.  —  Chambers^  Journal, 
71:463.  — V.  ROSE  WATER,  in  American  Statistical  Society  Publications, 
3  :293.  —  Political  Science  Quarterly,  10 :87.  —  Review  of  Reviews,  7  :61.  — 
Engineering  Magazine,  9 :  261 ;  14  : 780. 

270 


MUNICIPAL   IMPROVEMENTS.     II  271 

STREET  RAILWAYS 

Street  Railway  Journal,  April  7,  1900.  —  Municipal  Affairs,  3:234.— 
Report  of  Massachusetts  Committee  on  Street  Railways,  1898.  —  Cassier's 
Magazine,  15  :  241  ;  16  : 283-302  ;  357-370  ;  381-388 ;  17  : 279-294  ;  Scientific 
American  Supplement,  47  : 19349,  19595.  —  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics, 
14  : 121.—  Independent,  52  : 140.  —Engineering  Magazine,  16  : 1019 ;  20: 173- 
191. — Engineering  News,  May  14,  1896.  —  Consular  Reports,  December, 
1899.  —  Scientific  American,  83:260. 

DOCKS  AND  HARBORS 

Scribner's  Magazine,  26  : 385.  —  Transactions  of  American  Society  of  Civil 
Engineers,  29 : 128.  —  L.  F.  VERNON-HARCOURT,  Harbors  and  Docks.  — 
Consular  Reports,  January,  1898.  —Engineering  Hecord,  40:  126,  150,  172, 
198,  224.  —  H.  C.  HOLMES,  Report  to  California  State  Board  of  Harbor 
Commissioners. 

MARKETS  AND  ABATTOIRS 

National  Hecord,  21 : 285.  Journal  of  Society  of  Arts,  43  : 431.  Report 
of  Parliamentary  Commission  on  Markets.  —  Municipal  Affairs,  2  :  716-742. 

THE  public  improvements  thus  far  considered  are  now 
recognized  practically  everywhere  as  undertakings  in  which 
the  public  interest  and  public  benefit,  convenience  and 
health,  warrant  and  demand  public  action;  and  the  dis- 
cussion on  municipal  activity  along  these  lines  has  indi- 
cated in  the  main  the  extent  to  which  these  improvements 
have  been  established.  We  come  now,  however,  to  a  series 
of  undertakings  in  which  private  companies  as  well  as  mu- 
nicipalities are  engaged,  while  both  municipal  and  private 
undertakings  are  generally  conducted  so  as  to  charge  di- 
rectly the  individual  benefited  with  a  share  in  the  expense. 
We  shall  find  that  these  undertakings  all  have  a  public 
character.  Not  only  does  their  equipment  form  an  important 
part  of  the  physical  structure  of  the  public  streets,  but  their 
purposes  and  objects  are  in  large  part  distinctly  public. 
Nevertheless,  the  fact  of  payment  according  to  the  extent  of 
their  use  shows  that  the  individual  benefits  are  both  impor- 
tant and  can  be  discriminated.  These  conflicting  forces 
explain  the  existence  of  both  public  and  private  undertak- 
ings, the  latter,  however,  always  operating  under  a  grant  or 
franchise  from  public  authority,  while  economic  conditions 


272  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

bring  it  about  that  in  cases  of  private  undertakings  one  cor- 
poration, in  most  cases,  eventually  takes  control  of  the  entire 
service  in  one  field  for  each  locality. 

In  studying  these  fields  of  municipal  administration,  it 
therefore  becomes  necessary  to  note,  in  addition  to  strictly 
municipal  undertakings,  the  existence  also  of  private  under- 
takings, and  the  conditions  under  which  they  operate. 

WATERWORKS 

As  in  the  case  of  other  extensive  public  works,  there  is  a 
long  gap  between  the  undertakings  in  ancient  times  and 
those  in  modern  cities.  For  instance,  the  mediaeval  cities 
depended  on  wells  within  the  limits  of  the  town,  which  were 
usually  under  the  control  of  the  municipality.  We  find 
some  early  attempts  at  municipal  action  on  a  slightly  larger 
scale.  In  1236  the  London  magistrates  purchased  the  liberty 
to  construct  a  water  supply,  and  in  1283  built  a  conduit  to 
bring  the  water  to  the  city.1  In  1420  Southampton  leased 
from  a  monastery  its  water  supply ;  in  1585  Plymouth  was 
authorized  by  Parliament  to  build  municipal  waterworks ; 
and  the  Oxford  public  water  supply  dates  from  1610.  None 
of  these  instances,  however,  includes  any  extensive  works. 

Probably  the  earliest  important  water  undertaking  since 
the  aqueducts  of  antiquity  was  that  in  the  early  years  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  by  which  the  water  of  New  River  in 
Hertfordshire  was  brought  to  London,  a  distance  of  40  miles. 
This  project  was  devised  by  Hugh  Middleton,  who,  when  the 
city  corporation  failed  to  undertake  it,  began  it  himself  and 
completed  it  in  1613  with  the  aid  of  James  I.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  the  New  River  Company,  the  oldest  of  the 
existing  water  companies  in  London.  In  1721  the  Chelsea 
Company  was  founded,  and  with  the  New  River  Company 
and  several  smaller  companies  supplied  London  until  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Then  within  a  short  period  seven 
other  London  companies  were  formed  to  supply  water  to 

1  Waterworks  of  Europe,  III,  p.  1 ;  Gomme,  Principles  of  Local  Govern- 
ment, p.  101. 


MUNICIPAL   IMPROVEMENTS.     II  273 

various  districts  in  the  British  metropolis :  the  Lambeth  in 
1785,  the  Grand  Junction  in  1798,  the  Vauxhall  in  1805,  the 
West  Middlesex  and  East  London  in  1806,  the  Kent  in  1810, 
and  the  Southwark  in  1822.  These  derived  their  supply 
mainly  from  the  upper  Thames,  the  Lea,  and  from  wells. 

At  Paris  an  aqueduct  built  in  the  Roman  times  was  re- 
stored early  in  the  seventeenth  century;  and  other  water 
supply  works  and  pumping  machinery  were  built  both  by 
the  royal  government  and  by  the  municipal  authorities.  In 
1807  the  two  systems,  which  furnished  a  total  supply  of  only 
14  litres  per  head,  were  combined.  A  new  gravity  supply 
was  secured  by  constructing  the  Canal  d'Ourcq,  which  was 
further  supplemented  by  wells ;  but  during  the  first  half  of 
the  century  the  supply  remained  inadequate  and  unsatisfac- 
tory.1 The  other  large  cities  of  Europe,  however,  had  much 
less  important  waterworks  than  either  London  or  Paris. 

The  movement  toward  extensive  waterworks  and  munici- 
pal undertakings  began  in  the  United  States  during  the 
second  third  of  the  nineteenth  century.  A  public  water 
supply  had  been  built  at  Boston  as  early  as  1652,  and  other 
towns  had  public  wells;  but  for  the  small  communities  of 
the  colonial  days  no  important  works  were  necessary.  By 
1800  there  were  five  cities  in  the  United  States  with  public 
waterworks ;  but  even  as  late  as  1835  Philadelphia  was  the 
only  important  city  with  a  municipal  supply.  Within  the 
next  four  years,  however,  St.  Louis,  Detroit,  and  Cincinnati 
established  municipal  works,  and  New  York  began  the  con- 
struction of  the  Croton  reservoir  and  aqueduct,  40  miles 
in  length,  which,  when  completed  in  1842,  was  the  first  large 
modern  system  of  water  supply.  A  few  years  later  the 
Boston  waterworks  were  under  construction,  and  these 
examples  were  soon  followed  by  Albany,  Chicago,  Cleve- 
land, Worcester,  Hartford,  Baltimore,  and  other  cities  less 
important.  About  the  same  time  the  movement  toward 
municipal  waterworks  became  noticeable  in  Great  Britain. 
Sheffield  had  taken  over  its  supply  in  1830,  and  Manchester 
in  1847.  In  the  next  decade  Oldham  and  Glasgow,  and  in 
1  Block,  Administration  de  la  mile  de  Paris,  p.  459. 


274  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

later  years  Wolverhampton,  Edinburgh,  Lincoln,  Birming- 
ham, Liverpool,  and  ultimately  most  of  the  leading  British 
cities,  adopted  the  same  policy.  Of  the  works  undertaken 
in  British  cities  about  the  middle  of  the  century,  those  of 
Glasgow  were  the  most  important.  Loch  Katrine,  34  miles 
distant,  was  selected  as  a  new  source  of  supply,  and  con- 
duits having  a  capacity  of  50,000,000  gallons  a  day  were 
built  to  the  city. 

Paris,  Berlin,  and  Moscow  also  began  the  construction  of 
new  water  supplies  about  the  same  time  (1854-1858).  The 
Berlin  system,  begun  in  1852,  was  constructed  and  operated 
by  a  private  company.  In  Paris  the  works  of  the  private 
company  which  had  supplied  the  suburban  districts  were 
purchased  by  the  municipality,  and  new  works  were  installed, 
including  an  aqueduct  from  the  sources  of  the  Dhuis,  80 
miles  distant.  A  large  scheme  for  bringing  water  from  the 
sources  of  the  Vannes,  107  miles  away,  was  not  completed 
until  1874,  and  in  the  twenty  years  ending  at  that  time 
120,000,000  had  been  expended  for  waterworks  in  Paris. 

Soon  after  1870  large  water  supply  systems  were  built 
for  a  number  of  other  important  cities  on  the  continent  of 
Europe.  Frankfort-on-the-Main  began  a  new  system  in 
1870  which  brought  water  from  the  Vogelsberge  and  the 
Spessart,  41  miles  from  the  city,  and  in  1871  the  system 
came  into  the  hands  of  the  municipality.  In  1873  Alpine 
water  was  introduced  in  Vienna.  The  new  Florence  water- 
works were  begun  in  1872  and  completed  in  1877.  About 
the  same  time  the  authorities  at  Rome  began  the  restoration 
of  broken  aqueducts,  and  by  1885  were  able  to  prohibit  the 
use  of  wells.  By  this  time  Munich  and  Naples  had  under 
construction  new  water  systems,  the  latter  bringing  its 
supply  from  the  mountains,  50  miles  distant.  Paris  in  1886 
began  the  provision  for  new  sources  of  supply. 

Of  more  recent  undertakings,  special  mention  may  be 
made  of  the  Liverpool  supply  from  Lake  Vyrnwy  in  Wales, 
68  miles  distant ;  the  Birmingham  works  from  the  Elan 
River,  80  miles  distant ;  the  Manchester  supply  from  Lake 
Thirlmere,  distant  95  miles ;  and  the  works  for  the  metro- 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     II  275 

politan  district  embracing  Boston.  New  York  has  enlarged 
its  storage  reservoirs  in  the  Croton  valley  and  built  a  second 
larger  aqueduct,  but  in  the  near  future  will  probably  under- 
take a  still  larger  scheme  of  waterworks  construction. 

At  the  present  time  municipal  water  supplies  are  the 
general  rule  for  the  larger  cities  in  all  countries  ;  but  in  the 
Latin  countries  the  private  supplies  are  comparatively  much 
more  numerous  than  in  English-speaking  and  Germanic 
countries.  England  has  still  the  tremendously  important 
instance  of  London,  also  Bristol  and  five  other  towns  of  over 
100,000  population  —  out  of  29  towns  in  this  class  —  where 
the  water  supply  is  not  under  municipal  control.  In  the 
United  States  there  are  nine  instances  of  private  works  in 
cities  of  over  100,000  population  —  San  Francisco,  New  Or- 
leans, New  Haven,  Paterson,  St.  Joseph,  Omaha,  Los  Angeles, 
Memphis,  and  Scranton. 

In  cities  with  less  than  100,000  population,  waterworks 
owned  by  private  companies  are  somewhat  more  frequent ; 
but  in  the  United  States,  Great  Britain,  and  Germany,  munici- 
pal plants  predominate  in  cities  having  over  10,000  inhabit- 
ants. Of  United  States  cities  with  30,000  population  and 
over  in  1900,  94  have  municipal  works  as  against  35  with 
private  works ;  and  in  cities  of  over  8000  population  in  1890 
there  are  263  municipal  to  190  private  works.  In  Massachu- 
setts and  the  states  of  the  middle  West  municipal  plants 
predominate  even  in  the  small  towns.  For  the  United 
States  as  a  whole  in  1898  there  were  1787  municipal  water- 
works, as  compared  with  1539  waterworks  under  private 
control ;  but  the  total  investment  in  municipal  plants 
($513,852,568)  was  nearly  double  that  in  private  works.1 

Out  of  303  boroughs  in  England  268  have  a  municipal 
water  supply,  so  that,  with  the  exception  of  London,  munici- 
pal works  for  cities  of  importance  are  more  general  than  in 
the  United  States.  In  the  smaller  communities,  however, 
municipal  works  are  not  so  frequent.  Only  280  of  the  696 
urban  districts  not  boroughs  have  a  municipal  water  supply. 
The  total  investment  in  municipal  works  in  Great  Britain  is 

1  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Labor,  1899,  p.  12. 


276  MUNICIPAL   ACTIVITIES 

$240,000,000.!  In  Germany  only  four  of  the  55  cities  with 
over  50,000  population  have  not  municipal  waterworks.  But 
of  1244  Prussian  towns,  336  still  rely  on  private  wells  and 
pumps.2 

In  a  number  of  important  cases  there  are  joint  supplies  of 
water  for  two  or  more  municipalities.  Manchester  furnishes 
two-thirds  of  the  water  supply  of  Salford  ;  Liverpool  sup- 
plies Bootle ;  and  there  are  other  instances  in  England 
where  joint  boards  for  two  or  more  municipalities  control 
a  common  supply.  In  the  United  States  the  Metropolitan 
waterworks  in  Massachusetts  supplies  Boston,  Chelsea, 
Everett,  Maiden,  Medford,  Melrose,  Newton,  Somerville, 
Belmont,  Hyde  Park,  Revere,  Winthrop,  Watertown, 
Quincy,  Nahant,  Swampscott,  and  Arlington.3  A  large 
private  company  furnishes  water  to  towns  on  the  Susque- 
hanna  River  between  Wilkesbarre  and  Scranton.  In  Mel- 
bourne and  Sydney  there  are  special  boards  which  supply 
water  to  the  various  municipalities  making  up  each  of  the 
urban  districts. 

In  a  very  few  instances  water  supplies  are  owned  by  the 
general  government :  as,  for  example,  Copenhagen,  Denmark, 
and  Adelaide,  Queensland. 

Municipal  waterworks  have  in  every  case  two  main  divi- 
sions :  the  supply  system  and  the  distributing  system. 
There  are  two  classes  of  supply  systems,  the  gravity  and 
the  pumping  systems.  The  former  involves  the  impound- 
ing of  natural  watercourses  in  an  elevated  valley,  usually 
above  sources  of  pollution,  and  the  construction  of  a  lengthy 
aqueduct  from  the  storage  reservoir  to  the  city.  The 
latter  system  may  be  necessary  even  when  water  is  brought 
from  a  considerable  distance ;  but  more  frequently  the 
pumping  system  is  used  where  the  water  supply  comes 
from  near-by  sources.  Storage  reservoirs  and  aqueducts  are 
in  these  cases  not  always  required  ;  but  the  pollution  of 
waters  near  a  large  city  makes  necessary  in  such  cases 

1  Municipal  Tear  Book,  1900,  p.  406.  2  Engineering,  68  :  617. 

8  Each  of  these  municipalities  maintains  its  own  distributing  system  ;  and 
some  have  also  a  partial  source  of  supply. 


MUNICIPAL   IMPROVEMENTS.     II  277 

the  use  of  filtration  plants.  Such  filtration  works  are 
most  important  in  the  case  of  cities  located  near  the  mouth 
of  a  large  river  which  is  used  for  the  source  of  water  supply. 
Thus  the  London  water  companies,  which  secure  their  water 
from  rivers  and  wells,  have  used  sand  filters  since  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  although  their  action  in 
removing  bacteria  from  the  water  was  not  at  first  under- 
stood, and  in  consequence  the  best  methods  were  not  adopted 
until  recently.  The  valley  of  the  Elbe  River  contains  a 
large  number  of  great  cities,  most  of  which  use  the  adjacent 
river  water,  polluted  by  the  population  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  valley  ;  and  filtration  works  are  to  be  found  here  for 
most  of  the  large  cities.  The  most  important  are  those  of 
Berlin  and  Hamburg,  the  latter,  constructed  after  the  cholera 
epidemic  of  1892,  being  the  latest  and  most  improved  system 
in  the  world.  Other  important  filtration  works  are  those  at 
Rotterdam,  The  Hague,  Amsterdam,  and  Zurich.  The  first 
Berlin  filters  were  built  in  1855  ;  but  the  new  filters,  cover- 
ing an  area  of  23.3  acres,  are  very  recent.  The  London  fil- 
ters now  have  a  total  area  of  110  acres.  In  the  United 
States  the  principal  sand  filtration  works  are  at  Lowell 
(1876),  Hudson  (1874-1875),  Poughkeepsie,  Lawrence, 
Mass.,  and  Providence.  A  large  number  of  other  cities  have 
means  of  mechanical  filtration  —  New  Orleans  is  the  largest, 
and  Albany  and  Elmira  may  also  be  mentioned.1 

The  distribution  system  is  a  network  of  large  mains  and 
pipes  throughout  the  city,  connecting  with  outlets  in  the 
private  houses  and  with  public  fountains  and  hydrants* 
The  use  of  iron  and  steel  for  piping  has  been  an  important 
factor  in  extending  the  distribution  system,  not  only  of  the 
public  works,  but  also  of  the  private  pipes  in  the  houses  ; 
and  by  this  means  the  daily  consumption  of  water  has  been 
greatly  increased. 

Statistics  of  the  per  capita  consumption  of  water  indi- 
cate the  comparative  extent  of  municipal  activity  in  this 
field,  and  furnish  the  basis  for  interesting  problems.  The 
figures  for  German  cities  show  that  some  cities  there  provide 

1  Hill,  Purification  of  Water  Supplies,  p.  203. 


278  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

less  than  15  gallons  daily  per  capita,  while  in  more  than 
half  of  the  cities  of  over  50,000  population  the  supply  is 
between  15  and  25  gallons  daily  per  capita.  Bremen,  Dres- 
den, Leipzig,  and  even  Berlin  are  in  this  class,  the  daily 
supply  in  the  capital  being  19.5  gallons  per  capita.  Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main  (daily  capacity  35  gallons  per  capita), 
Munich  (46  gallons),  and  Hamburg  (47  gallons)  are  among 
the  best-supplied  German  cities ;  and  only  in  a  few  cities  is 
the  supply  over  50  gallons  per  capita,  such  as  Dortmund  (55 
gallons),  Liibeck  (59  gallons),  Augsburg  (60  gallons),  and 
Freiburg  (75  gallons). 

In  Paris  the  daily  supply  is  52.8  gallons  per  capita,  and 
this  is  somewhat  exceeded  by  the  daily  capacity  of  Rome  ; 
but  it  is  doubtful  if  other  French  and  Italian  cities  have 
more  abundant  supplies  than  the  German  cities.  Zurich  in 
Switzerland  has  a  daily  capacity  of  88.6  gallons  per  capita, 
which  is  much  the  largest  rate  in  any  European  city. 

The  British  cities  in  general  provide  a  larger  supply  than 
the  cities  on  the  Continent.  Only  in  a  few  cases  is  the  figure 
below  20  gallons,  while  in  most  cities  it  is  above  30  gallons. 
Instances  are  rare,  however,  in  which  the  per  capita  con- 
sumption is  above  40  gallons  per  day,  and  that  figure  is  the 
average  of  the  London  companies.  Glasgow,  with  60  gal- 
lons per  head,  is  the  most  liberally  supplied  city  in  the 
United  Kingdom. 

In  the  United  States  100  gallons  per  capita  seems  to  be  in 
general  the  minimum  limit  for  the  largest  cities,  and  the 
supply  rises  in  many  cases  well  above  this  figure,  and  occa- 
sionally reaches  as  high  as  200  gallons.  Furthermore,  the 
tendency  is  steadily  toward  an  increase  in  the  amount  drawn. 
This  larger  consumption  of  water  in  the  United  States  is 
due  in  part  to  conditions  here  which  favor  its  more  general 
use  for  beneficial  ends  :  the  distribution  of  water  into  almost 
every  room  promotes  a  larger  use  for  domestic  purposes ;  a 
larger  amount  is  utilized  in  water-closets  and  bath-rooms, 
which  are  so  much  more  general  in  this  country  than  else- 
where ;  the  amount  used  for  public  purposes,  such  as  the 
extinction  of  fires  and  the  flushing  of  sewers  and  streets,  is 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     II  279 

also  greater  in  the  United  States  than  in  foreign  countries. 
But  even  after  considering  these  conditions,  the  amount  of 
water  drawn  off  is  seen  to  be  much  more  than  enough 
to  supply  all  proper  demands;  and  there  is  clearly  a  large 
waste  of  water,  through  leaks  in  the  mains  and  by  the  care- 
lessness of  householders  in  allowing  water  to  run  or  in 
delaying  to  repair  leaky  faucets.  The  general  use  in  all 
houses  of  water  meters,  such  as  are  now  used  by  large  con- 
sumers of  water,  would  serve  to  prevent  waste  in  houses  ; 
and  the  experience  of  Fall  River  indicates  that  a  large  sav- 
ing can  be  effected  in  this  way.  Leaks  in  the  mains,  which 
are  probably  the  principal  sources  of  waste,  could  be  re- 
duced by  the  examination  of  older  pipes  from  time  to  time, 
and  in  the  larger  cities  could  be  prevented  to  a  great  extent 
by  placing  the  underground  pipes  of  the  congested  streets 
in  large  subways,  where  they  would  constantly  be  open  to 
inspection. 

Public  Aspects.  —  The  existence  of  both  municipal  and 
private  works  suggests  a  study  of  the  public  and  private 
aspects  of  water  supply,  which  may  indicate  some  explana- 
tion of  the  large  extent  of  municipal  works.  The  public 
aspects  of  a  city  water  supply  are  of  fundamental  importance. 
An  abundant  supply  for  private  consumption  and  for  use  in 
connection  with  modern  drainage  systems  is  a  vital  factor  in 
promoting  the  public  health,  and  is  also  an  essential  element 
in  the  work  of  fire  brigades.  Moreover,  the  distribution 
system  requires  the  use  of  public  thoroughfares,  and  the 
supply  works  in  most  cases  call  into  play  the  governmental 
power  of  eminent  domain  to  secure  an  adequate  supply  and 
a  continuous  right  of  way  for  the  conduits  from  the  sources 
of  supply  to  the  city.  These  considerations  show  that  there 
is  a  large  field  of  public  interest  in  the  administration  of 
city  waterworks.  On  the  other  hand,  the  use  of  water  for 
household  and  industrial  purposes  belongs  distinctly  to  the 
field  of  private  interest.  This  is  recognized  by  the  charges 
made  to  the  consumer  for  the  use  of  water,1  whether  fur- 

1  Marseilles,  France,  has  a  water  tax  instead  of  water  rates. 


280  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

nished  by  a  municipal  or  private  plant.  Except  in  the 
small  communities  the  income  from  private  consumers  usu- 
ally pays  the  expenses  of  the  waterworks,1  the  water  for 
public  purposes  being  thus  secured  without  cost  to  the  gen- 
eral revenue. 

Waterworks  franchises  are  granted  in  most  instances  for  a 
period  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  years,  occasionally  for  fifty 
years,  and  in  a  few  instances  for  ninety-nine  years  or  in 
perpetuity.  Nearly  half  of  the  franchises  in  the  cities  of 
the  United  States  make  some  provision  for  future  munici- 
pal purchase  —  some  name  a  fixed  interval  at  the  end  of 
which  the  city  may  purchase,  and  in  other  cases  the  prop- 
erty may  be  purchased  at  any  time.  A  few  franchises  specify 
the  purchase  price,  or  state  the  basis  of  price ;  but  in  many 
instances  the  only  provisions  are  that  the  value  is  to  be  de- 
termined by  disinterested  appraisers,  and  statements  defining 
in  general  the  method  of  appraisement.  The  franchise  gen- 
erally names  certain  rates  to  be  charged  to  consumers,  which 
in  some  cases  are  subject  to  modification  at  certain  times ; 
but  occasionally  there  is  no  regulation  of  rates.  Private 
companies  often  furnish  water  to  the  municipalities  for 
public  purposes  free  of  charge. 

PUBLIC   LIGHTING 

Municipal  activity  in  the  field  of  public  lighting  is  closely 
connected  with  modern  developments  in  the  means  of  arti- 
ficial light.  Only  in  the  case  of  two  of  the  ancient  cities 
(Antioch  and  Alexandria)  is  there  any  record  of  public 
lighting ;  and  it  is  uncertain  how  far  or  in  what  way  this 
function  was  undertaken  even  in  these  two  cities.  Through- 
out the  Middle  Ages  there  was  a  complete  absence  of  munici- 
pal lighting ;  and  it  is  not  until  1524  that  we  find  a  decree 
of  the  Parlement  requiring  the  householders  of  Paris  to  dis- 
play lanterns,  each  containing  a  lighted  candle.  Similar 
enactments  were  thenceforth  repeated  at  intervals  ;  but  no 
systematic  or  extensive  public  lighting  was  adopted,  even 

1  See  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Labor,  1899,  pp.  326-335. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     H  281 

in  Paris,  before  1667,  when  the  new  lieutenant  of  police 
established  a  definite  system  of  public  lanterns.1 

The  example  of  Paris  was  followed  by  London  in  1668,  by 
Amsterdam  in  1669,  Berlin  in  1679,  Vienna  in  1687,  Leipzig 
in  1702,  Dresden  in  1705,  Frankfort  in  1707,  Basel  in  1721, 
and  during  the  eighteenth  century  by  most  of  the  important 
cities  in  Europe.2  The  Paris  street-lighting  system,  as  it 
existed  in  1763,  consisted  of  6500  lanterns,  each  fastened  to 
a  cord  hung  across  the  street,  and  lighted  for  twenty  nights 
a  month  from  October  to  March.  The  lanterns  were  fur- 
nished by  contractors,  and  the  lighting  was  attended  to  by 
officials  elected  in  each  section  of  the  city.3  About  1765,  oil 
lanterns  with  reflectors  began  to  be  substituted  for  candles. 
This  apparently  was  accompanied  by  a  reduction  in  the  num- 
ber of  lights,  for  in  1790  there  were  but  3783  lanterns,  and 
the  cost  of  public  lighting  in  that  year  was  617,472  francs.* 

G-as  Lighting 

But  public  lighting  on  an  extended  scale  did  not  begin 
until  the  possibilities  of  illuminating  gas  had  been  demon- 
strated. Experiments  in  gas  lighting  were  made  in  the 
years  immediately  preceding  and  following  1800.  Manches- 
ter had  some  gas  street  lights  in  1802  ;  and  in  1807  the  Gas 
Light  and  Coke  Company  laid  pipes  in  Pall  Mall,  London, 
to  light  that  street  with  gas.  Six  years  later  this  same  com- 
pany—  having  now  a  franchise  from  Parliament  —  estab- 
lished lights  on  Westminster  Bridge  over  the  Thames  ;  in 
the  following  year  the  streets  of  Westminster  were  lit  by 
gas ;  and  by  1816  gas  street  lights  were  common  in  London. 
In  the  course  of  a  few  years  the  new  illuminant  had  been 
adopted  in  all  the  principal  towns  in  the  kingdom  for  light- 
ing streets  and  public  buildings.  But  although  these  public 
lights  were  almost  the  only  gas  in  use,  the  works,  pipes, 
and  lamps  were  established  by  private  companies  under  con- 

1  La  Grande  Encyclopedic,  15  :  535. 

2  Meyer,  Konversationslexikon,  16  :  506. 
8  Mildmay,  Police  of  Paris,  120,  121. 

*  Block,  Administration  de  Paris,  p.  430. 


282  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

tract  with  the  public  authorities,  except  in  Manchester,  where 
the  police  commissioners  in  1824  set  in  operation  the  first 
municipal  gasworks.1 

Gas  lighting  was  by  slow  steps  extended  to  other  coun- 
tries. It  was  introduced  in  Paris  in  1815,  but  in  1821  there 
were  still  12,000  oil  lanterns  in  the  Paris  streets,  and  not 
until  1838  were  these  entirely  removed.  The  first  gas- 
works in  Germany  were  at  Hanover,  in  1825,  followed  by 
similar  works  at  Berlin  in  1826,  at  Dresden  and  Frankfort 
in  1828,  at  Vienna  in  1833,  and  at  Leipzig  in  1838.2  Gas 
was  introduced  into  Boston  in  1823,  and  into  New  York  two 
years  later.  By  the  middle  of  the  century  gas  was  to  be 
found  in  most  important  cities  throughout  the  world.  The 
works  in  America,  like  those  in  Europe,  were  established  by 
private  companies,  with  which  the  municipalities  made  con- 
tracts for  street  lighting ;  but  in  1845  Philadelphia  estab- 
lished municipal  gasworks,  and  in  1847  Berlin  declined  to 
renew  the  concession  to  the  private  company  there,  and  put 
in  operation  municipal  works. 

Probably  the  first  carefully  drawn  gas  franchise  was  that 
granted  by  Paris  in  1846.  The  six  companies  then  in 
operation  were  given  the  exclusive  right  to  lay  pipes  in 
the  street,  while  the  rates,  both  for  public  and  private  use, 
were  specified  in  the  agreement.  In  1855  the  companies 
consolidated,  and  a  new  agreement  was  made  with  the 
municipality  for  fifty  years,  and  was  adapted  to  include 
the  suburban  territory  annexed  in  1860,  when  the  com- 
panies in  these  outlying  districts  were  absorbed  in  the  con- 
solidated company.3 

Since  1850  the  use  of  gas  has  increased  enormously  in  the 
large  cities,  and  has  also  been  introduced  in  the  smaller 
cities.  During  the  last  thirty  years,  many  of  the  large 
British  and  German  cities  have  followed  the  examples  of 
Manchester  and  Berlin,  and  have  established  municipal  gas- 
works, usually  purchasing  the  existing  local  plant.  Glasgow 

1  Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 

2  Meyer,  Konversationslexikon,  11 : 284. 

8  Block,  Administration  de  Paris,  p.  430. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     II 


283 


bought  out  the  local  gas  supply  in  1869,  Leeds  in  1870, 
Bradford  in  1871,  Birmingham  in  1873.  Thirty-two  out  of 
sixty-five  towns  with  over  50,000  population  in  the  United 
Kingdom  now  have  municipal  works.  The  principal  excep- 
tions are  London,  Liverpool,  Sheffield,  and  Dublin.  Includ- 
ing the  smaller  towns,  there  are  222  municipal  gas  plants,  as 
compared  with  439  private  plants ;  and  the  investment  and 
product  of  municipal  plants  in  proportion  to  that  of  private 
plants  is  in  the  general  ratio  of  one  to  two. 

STATISTICS   OF  BRITISH   GASWORKS,  1899 


Items 

Municipal  Plants 

Private  Plants 

Number       
Capital        

222 
28,614,971 
£7,177,670 

439 
£53,494,781 
£14  093  125 

Expenditures      .... 
Miles  of  mains    .... 
Consumers  ..... 

£5,365,996 
10,030 
1,578,291 

£10,309,948 
15,451 
1,670,847 

In  Germany  municipal  gasworks  are  even  more  common ; 
forty-one  of  fifty-four  cities  with  over  50,000  population  have 
municipal  plants,  the  principal  exceptions  being  Augsburg, 
Frankfort,  and  Hanover.  Aggregate  figures  for  all  Ger- 
many for  1885  showed  that  of  gasworks  for  public  lighting 
there  were  338  municipal  plants,  as  against  329  private  ones 
(although  there  were  also  590  small  private  companies  for 
purely  trade  or  other  special  purposes).  The  gas  production 
of  the  municipal  works  was  double  that  of  the  private  works.1 

Municipal  gasworks  are  also  to  be  found  in  most  of 
the  large  cities  of  Holland,  Austria,  Norway,  Sweden,  and 
Switzerland  :  in  Amsterdam,  Rotterdam,  Prague,  Trieste,  and 
Stockholm.  Occasional  instances  of  municipal  gasworks  are 
to  be  found  in  other  countries.  Several  of  the  smaller 
Italian  cities  have  had  municipal  works  for  some  time, 
among  them  Como,  Vicenza,  Spezia,  and  Azti;  in  1896 
Padua  and  in  1900  Bologna  purchased  the  plants  of  the 

1  Meyer,  Konversationslexikon,  11 :  284  :  —  279  municipal  works,  325  mill- 
ion cubic  metres  of  gas  ;  287  private  works,  152  million  cubic  metres  of  gas. 


284  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

local  private  companies.  Isolated  instances  of  some  impor- 
tance are  Brussels,  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  Yokohama.  In 
France  there  are  said  to  be  28  smaller  towns  with  municipal 
works,  and  in  New  South  Wales  17  small  towns.  In  the 
United  States  there  are  only  14  cities  with  municipal  gas- 
works, as  compared  with  951  private  plants,  while  most  of 
the  municipal  works  are  in  small  towns.  Since  Philadelphia 
has  leased  its  municipal  plant  to  a  private  company,  the 
principal  cities  operating  municipal  gasworks  are  Toledo  (a 
natural  gas  supply  for  fuel  purposes),  Richmond,  Duluth, 
and  Wheeling.  The  total  investment  in  municipal  gas- 
works in  the  United  States  for  1898  was  11,918,120,  as 
against  $330,346,274  invested  in  private  works ;  the  value 
of  product  in  the  municipal  works  aggregated  §487,355, 
and  in  the  private  works  |73,446,133.1 

The  existence  of  a  large  number  of  both  municipal  and 
private  gasworks  in  Great  Britain  renders  a  comparison 
between  the  two  systems  in  that  country  of  some  value. 
Such  a  comparison  shows  distinct  advantages  enjoyed  by  the 
municipal  plants  in  that  country.  The  financial  results  show 
that  the  prices  charged  by  the  municipal  plants  are  about  10 
per  cent  less  than  those  charged  by  private  works,  while  the 
quality  of  gas  furnished  grades  about  14  per  cent  higher  for  the 
municipal  works.  At  the  same  time  the  profits  after  making 
adequate  charges  for  depreciation  and  sinking  funds  are  nearly 
as  large  as  those  for  private  works.  The  full  significance  of 
these  figures  is,  however,  indicated  in  the  much  larger  con- 
sumption of  gas  from  municipal  works.  While  in  number  of 
plants,  capitalization,  and  product,  the  ratio  of  private  to 
municipal  works  is  about  two  to  one,  yet  the  number  of  con- 
sumers of  gas  in  each  class  is  practically  equal.  Thus  in  62 
cities  with  over  50,000  population,  the  statistics  show :  — 


Population 

Consumers 

Ratio 

31  Municipal  Works 
31  Private  Works 

5,528,833 
4,752,793 

1,115,410 
507,169 

4.9-1 
9.3-1 

1  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Labor,  1899,  p.  12. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     II  285 

The  more  general  use  of  gas  by  the  poorer  classes  indicated 
by  these  figures  means  a  great  improvement  in  the  sanitary 
and  social  life  of  that  part  of  the  city  population,  which 
cannot  be  measured  statistically. 

Electric  Lighting 

The  possibility  of  electric  lighting  was  demonstrated  in 
Paris  in  1877  ;  but  the  practical  use  of  such  lighting  dates 
from  1880,  when  an  arc  electric  plant  was  installed  at  Wa- 
bash,  Ind.  Another  Indiana  town  (Vincennes)  claims  the 
honor  of  the  first  incandescent  electric  lighting  plant,  erected 
in  1886.  Both  arc  and  incandescent  systems  were  rapidly 
extended  to  other  cities  in  the  United  States,  the  incandes- 
cent lamps  being  used  mainly  for  indoor  lighting,  and  the 
arc  lights  for  street  lighting.  The  precedent  of  private 
ownership  of  lighting  plants  which  prevailed  in  the  United 
States  was  followed  in  most  places  in  regard  to  the  new 
electric  works.  But  as  early  as  1882  a  municipal  electric 
light  plant  was  established  in  the  small  city  of  Fairfield, 
la.;  a  few  other  cities  established  similar  plants  within 
the  next  few  years,  among  which  may  be  named  Decatur, 
111.  (1886),  Chicago  (1887),  and  a  large  number  of  others 
established  since  1890. 

In  1898  there  were  all  together  in  the  United  States  468 
municipal  electric  light  plants  as  compared  with  2578  private 
plants.  But  most  of  the  municipal  electric  works  are  in 
small  towns,  whereas  private  plants  furnish  the  supply  in 
nearly  all  the  large  cities,  and  consequently  represent  a 
much  larger  proportion  of  the  total  investment  in  electric 
lighting.  In  many  cases,  too,  the  municipal  plant  furnishes 
only  public  lighting,  and  leaves  the  demand  for  private 
consumption  of  electric  power  to  be  supplied  by  private  com- 
panies. The  total  municipal  investment  is  $12,902,677, 
and  the  investment  of  the  private  companies  $ 265,181,920. l 
The  principal  cities  with  municipal  plants  are  Chicago, 
Detroit  (1895),  Allegheny  (1890),  and  Grand  Rapids  (1899). 
Michigan,  Ohio,  and  Illinois  have  the  largest  number  of 
1  Keport  of  Commissioner  of  Labor,  1899. 


286 


MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 


municipal  plants,  with  Minnesota,  Iowa,  Missouri,  Indiana, 
and  Pennsylvania  following,  in  the  order  named.  In  point 
of  importance  of  municipal  electric  light  works,  Illinois  ranks 
first,  Michigan  second,  Ohio  third,  Pennsylvania  fourth,  and 
Indiana  fifth.  There  are  but  few  municipal  plants  west  of 
Iowa  or  south  of  the  Ohio  River  or  Pennsylvania. 

STATISTICS  OF  MUNICIPAL  ELECTRIC  LIGHT  PLANTS,  1897 1 


States 

Number 
of 

Plants 

Number 
Arc 
Lights 

Number  In- 
candescent 
Lights 

Horse 
Power 

Capital 

Illinois      

36 

5,158 

22,564 

7,810 

42 

3,964 

48,786 

7,178 

Ohio     

42 

2,821 

40,480 

7,376 

Pennsylvania     .... 

17 
19 

2,025 
1,403 

16,916 
18,150 

4,223 
3,910 

Massachusetts   .... 

15 

1,271 

38,243 

3,865 

United  States    .... 

353 

25,343 

354,031 

59,500 

Private  Companies,  U.  S. 

2,261 

264,428 

7,234,134 

970,481 

$229,938,606 

An  act  of  the  British  Parliament  in  1882  authorized 
municipal  and  private  electricity  plants  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Board  of  Trade.  Private  plants  were  estab- 
lished at  Eastbourne  and  Hastings  in  1882,  at  London  in 
1885,  and  three  others  in  1887-1888.  But  the  restrictions 
on  private  companies,  and  failures  in  the  early  cases,  pre- 
vented rapid  development;  while  municipalities,  although 
securing  licenses  to  keep  out  private  companies,  did  not 
venture  to  establish  works  of  their  own.  A  new  act  of 
1888  granted  more  favorable  terms  for  private  companies, 
although  still  providing  for  municipal  purchase.  New  com- 
panies were  organized,  and  beginning  with  Bradford  in  1889, 
and  Brighton  and  St.  Pancras  (London)  in  1891,  the  munici- 
palities also  began  to  enter  actively  into  this  field.  At  the 
end  of  1900  there  were  198  works  in  operation  — 130  under 
municipal  management,  and  68  in  private  hands.  There 
were  121  new  works  under  way,  99  by  public  bodies,  and 

1  Bemis,  Municipal  Monopolies,  p.  202. 


MUNICIPAL   IMPROVEMENTS.     II  287 

22  by  companies.  In  the  larger  cities  municipal  plants  are 
almost  universal.  Both  towns  with  municipal  gasworks 
and  those  where  the  gas  supply  is  delivered  by  private 
parties  have  entered  this  new  field.  Even  in  London  several 
of  the  districts  have  municipal  plants,  although  private  com- 
panies control  much  the  larger  share  of  the  metropolitan 
supply  of  electricity.  Outside  of  London  the  only  cities 
with  over  100,000  population  which  do  not  have  municipal 
works  are  Newcastle,  Norwich,  and  Preston. 

On  the  continent  of  Europe  most  public  electric  light 
plants  in  Teutonic  countries  are  municipal.  In  Germany, 
however,  there  are  a  number  of  important  exceptions  to  this 
rule.  In  Berlin  and  Leipzig,  where  the  gasworks  are 
municipal,  and  also  in  Hamburg  and  other  cities,  electric 
lighting  is  in  the  hands  of  private  companies.  Frankfort- 
on-the-Main,  Chemnitz,  Plauen,  and  Aix-la-Chapelle  have 
constructed  municipal  electric  works,  but  have  leased  them 
for  operation  to  private  companies.  Municipal  electric  light 
works  are  operated  by  the  city  governments  in  Munich, 
Breslau,  Cologne,  Dresden,  Hanover,  and  most  of  the  other 
important  cities.  There  are  also  municipal  electric  works 
at  Brussels,  Rotterdam,  Stockholm,  Bergen,  and  Christiania ; 
and  at  Copenhagen  there  is  a  government  plant.  So  too  in 
Geneva,  Berne,  and  many  small  places  in  Switzerland,  there 
are  municipal  electric  plants.  In  France,  Italy,  and  Bel- 
gium municipal  electric  light  plants  are  almost  unknown, 
while  in  at  least  two  cities,  Brest  and  Ghent,  the  franchises 
of  the  gas  companies  have  delayed  the  introduction  of  elec- 
tric light. 

Public  Aspects.  —  As  in  the  case  of  waterworks,  the  ex- 
istence of  both  municipal  and  private  lighting  plants  sug- 
gests an  examination  of  the  public  and  private  aspects  of 
lighting  works,  in  which  we  may  look  for  facts  to  explain 
(not  necessarily  to  justify)  the  smaller  extent  of  municipal 
works  in  the  case  of  lighting  plants,  and  the  larger  propor- 
tion of  municipal  plants  in  the  case  of  electricity,  as  com- 
pared with  gas  lighting. 


288  MUNICIPAL   ACTIVITIES 

Both  gas  and  electric  light  works,  like  waterworks,  make 
use  of  the  public  streets,  and  for  gas  plants,  and  also  for  elec- 
tric light  plants  in  large  cities,  this  use  involves  the  digging 
up  of  the  street  surface  to  lay  and  repair  pipes  and  the  re- 
pair of  the  street  pavements.  The  overhead  conductors  of 
electricity  in  other  than  the  largest  cities  do  not  involve 
so  great  a  disturbance  of  the  streets  as  the  underground  gas 
and  water  conduits.  The  lighting  of  streets  and  public 
places  is  of  course  a  distinctively  public  work,  undertaken 
not  merely  for  convenience,  but  as  a  direct  aid  in  the  impor- 
tant and  fundamental  task  of  the  police  of  the  city.  In 
these  respects  lighting  works  are  on  the  same  general  basis 
as  waterworks.  But  in  other  respects  we  find  some  differ- 
ences. It  seems  probable  that  public  lighting  is  a  smaller 
share  of  the  total  lighting  than  public  water  consumption  is 
of  the  total  consumption ;  and  what  is  of  more  importance, 
private  lighting  does  not  possess  the  same  vital  public  inter- 
est that  the  private  water  supply  has  as  a  sanitary  measure. 
Nor  is  it  necessary  in  the  case  of  lighting  supply  plants  to 
make  use  of  the  power  of  eminent  domain  to  condemn  pri- 
vate property.  The  operation  of  gasworks  involves  more 
complicated  industrial  operations  than  either  waterworks  or 
electric  light  plants,  including  the  purchase  of  raw  mate- 
rials, the  employment  of  many  skilled  workmen,  and  the 
use  of  technical  manufacturing  processes  constantly  subject 
to  improvement.  Add  to  these  conditions  the  fact  that 
gas  and  electric  lighting  when  first  introduced  were  not 
considered  at  all  as  necessaries,  but  an  alternative  form 
of  light  to  the  old  means,  which  might  or  might  not  be 
adopted  by  private  consumers,  and  the  further  fact  that 
for  a  time  both  in  gas  and  electricity  the  complete  suc- 
cess of  the  new  methods  was  problematical,  and  the  explana- 
tion for  a  smaller  degree  of  municipal  activity  seems  to  be 
ample. 

On  the  other  hand,  recent  developments  have  changed  the 
two  conditions  last  named.  The  use  of  either  gas  or  elec- 
tricity is  now  almost,  if  not  quite,  a  necessity  in  the  large 
cities,  and  the  definitive  success  of  the  new  methods  brings 


MUNICIPAL   IMPROVEMENTS.     II  289 

them  more  easily  within  the  scope  of  municipal  action,  while 
the  clear  and  inevitable  tendency  of  lighting  works  in  each 
city  to  consolidate  into  a  single  company  possessing  a 
practical,  and  often  also  a  legal,  monopoly  adds  to  the  de- 
mand for  public  administration  or  public  control  of  private 
works. 

Franchise  Terms.  —  Most  of  the  various  terms  and  condi- 
tions mentioned  in  connection  with  waterworks  franchises 
are  found  to  some  extent  in  franchises  for  public  lighting :  a 
limited  term,  right  of  purchase,  rates  for  public  and  private 
use.  But  lighting  franchises  as  a  rule  allow  greater  freedom 
to  the  private  companies  than  do  water  franchises.  An  in- 
vestigation by  the  American  Economic  Association  in  1889 
discovered  75  lighting  franchises  with  no  control  of  rates, 
while  in  only  14  water  franchises  was  this  the  case.  And 
only  23  out  of  138  lighting  franchises  reserved  to  the  city 
the  right  of  purchase,  while  nearly  half  of  the  water  fran- 
chises had  such  a  provision.1  In  the  case  of  electric  light 
franchises,  conditions  are  generally  more  favorable  to  the 
company  than  in  the  case  of  gas  franchises.  One  of  the  most 
stringent  electric  light  franchises  is  that  of  Paris.  The 
franchise  granted  in  1887  is  for  only  fifteen  years ;  it  gives 
the  municipality  the  right  to  lower  prices  every  five  years, 
and  the  right  of  purchase  at  the  end  of  ten  years,  and  the 
company  pays  to  the  city  5  per  cent  of  its  gross  receipts. 
The  lease  of  the  Philadelphia  municipal  gas  plant  to  a  private 
operating  company  (in  1899)  contains  some  important  fea- 
tures. The  company  received  the  city  plant  subject  to  no 
direct  payment  to  the  city;  but  agreed  to  light  the  city 
streets  free  of  charge,  to  spend  $15,000,000  on  improvements, 
and  at  the  end  of  thirty  years  to  surrender  the  plant  to  the 
city.  The  lease  also  fixes  the  maximum  prices  for  gas  which 
can  be  received  by  the  company  at  from  90  to  75  cents  per 
thousand  feet,  but  the  city  may  place  the  price  to  the  con- 
sumer as  high  as  81.00,  the  difference  to  go  to  the  municipal 
treasury. 

1  American  Economic  Association  Publications,  II. 
u 


290  MUNICIPAL   ACTIVITIES 

Massachusetts  G-as  and  Electric  Lighting  Commission 

The  highest  development  of  public  control  over  private 
lighting  corporations  in  the  United  States  is  that  exercised 
in  Massachusetts  by  the  State  Gas  and  Electric  Lighting 
Commission.  This  Commission  was  established  in  1885  to 
supervise  gas  companies ;  and  two  years  later  its  powers 
were  extended  to  include  electric  light  companies.  It  con- 
sists of  three  members  appointed  by  the  governor  and  execu- 
tive council  for  three  years,  one  member  retiring  each  year. 
The  members  receive  a  salary,  and  are  not  permitted  to  en- 
gage in  any  other  business.  They  can  be  removed  only  for 
cause,  after  notice  and  a  hearing. 

This  Commission  has  control  over  the  establishment  and 
consolidation  of  companies,  their  rates,  capitalization,  and  ac- 
counts. It  has  power  on  appeal  to  prevent  municipalities 
from  granting  franchises  to  more  than  one  gas  or  electric 
light  company ;  and  its  policy  has  been  to  recognize  the 
lighting  business  as  a  monopoly,  and  only  in  very  exceptional 
cases  to  permit  a  duplication  of  plants.  It  has  also  favored 
the  consolidation  of  gas  companies  and  electric  light  com- 
panies in  smaller  cities  and  towns,  but  refused  to  permit 
it  in  the  large  city  of  Worcester.  On  complaint  and  inves- 
tigation the  Commission  may  order  the  prices  charged  for 
gas  or  electric  light  reduced  or  the  quality  improved.  In 
these  investigations  the  Commission  does  not  act  simply  as  a 
court,  bound  by  legal  rules  of  evidence  and  procedure ;  but 
proceeds  on  its  own  initiative,  and  applies  all  its  knowledge 
concerning,  not  only  the  case  in  hand,  but  the  business  of 
every  company  in  the  State.  Almost  every  petition  for  a 
redaction  in  prices  has  been  acted  upon  favorably  by  the 
Commission,  and  the  reductions  have  usually  reduced  divi- 
dends. Some  companies  also  have  made  voluntary  reductions 
in  prices.  In  order  to  prevent  over-capitalization  and  stock- 
watering,  gas  and  electric  light  companies  are  required  to 
secure  the  approval  of  the  Commission  for  each  new  issue  of 
stock  or  bonds.  Finally,  by  securing  uniform  and  public 
accounts  and  statistics  from  both  public  and  private  works, 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     II  291 

the  Commission  not  only  is  able  to  act  wisely  in  the  exercise 
of  its  powers  of  control,  but  also  can  recommend  additional 
legislation  when  necessary,  and  promote  the  intelligent  pub- 
lic discussion  of  all  lighting  matters. 

In  New  York  State  the  legislature  in  1886  passed  an  act 
fixing  the  maximum  price  of  gas  in  New  York  city  at  $1.25 
per  thousand  feet ;  and  in  1896  provided  for  a  slight  annual 
reduction  for  a  period  of  years.  This  action,  taken  without 
detailed  study  and  a  knowledge  of  business  conditions  and 
management,  and  entirely  ignoring  the  probability  of  impor- 
tant changes  in  methods  of  lighting,  cannot  produce  the 
successful  results  achieved  by  the  Massachusetts  system. 

Many  cities  conduct  a  fire  alarm  and  police  telegraph 
system  in  connection  with  the  fire  and  police  brigades;  but 
aside  from  these,  other  electrical  services  are  seldom  in  the 
control  of  municipal  authorities.  The  general  telephone 
and  telegraph  business  is  in  the  hands  either  of  private  com- 
panies or  of  the  general  government.  The  general  govern- 
ment has  charge  in  Germany,  France,  Switzerland,  Belgium 
and  Holland,  Japan,  and  Australian  countries.  Examples  of 
municipal  telephone  systems  are,  however,  to  be  found  in 
Amsterdam  and  in  Glasgow,  the  plant  at  the  latter  place 
being  installed  in  1901. 

Franchises  for  telephones,  telegraphs,  steam  conduits, 
pneumatic  pipes,  and  the  like,  in  United  States  cities  are 
generally  granted  with  almost  no  restrictions. 

URBAN  TRANSPORTATION 

The  development  of  systems  of  urban  passenger  trans- 
portation is  far  from  the  least  significant  feature  of  mu- 
nicipal development  during  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Before  the  eighteenth  century  passenger  move- 
ment on  the  streets  was  almost  limited  to  foot  traffic,  the 
wealthy  using  sedan  chairs  carried  by  porters  on  foot. 
Horse  vehicles  were  used  only  for  long  distance  journeys. 
Gradually  the  use  of  carriages  was  extended,  at  first  for  pri- 
vate use,  and  later  for  public  hire  on  a  small  scale.  An 


292  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

attempt  had  been  made  as  early  as  1662  to  establish  a  system 
of  public  carriages  in  Paris,  but  it  had  failed ;  and  it  was 
not  until  1828  that  an  omnibus  line  was  put  in  operation  in 
that  city.  In  1829  omnibuses  were  put  in  operation  in  Lon- 
don, and  additional  lines  were  soon  established  both  in 
London  and  in  Paris,  as  well  as  in  the  other  large  cities 
of  Europe.  In  general  each  line  was  established  by  a  dif- 
ferent company;  and  there  were  no  important  regulations  or 
grants  of  privileges.  In  1854,  however,  the  fifteen  omnibus 
lines  in  Paris  were  consolidated,  and  the  combined  company 
received  an  exclusive  franchise  for  thirty  years  (the  limit 
being  afterward  extended  to  1910),  on  condition  of  large 
annual  payments  to  the  city.  A  year  later  the  cab  pro- 
prietors of  Paris  were  likewise  consolidated  into  a  single 
company  which  received  special  privileges,  and  in  1862  it 
obtained  an  exclusive  franchise  on  a  similar  arrangement  to 
that  with  the  omnibus  company. 

Street  Railways 

The  first;  railway  for  urban  street  traffic  was  constructed 
and  put  in  operation  at  New  York  in  1852.1  This  was 
quickly  followed  by  other  lines  in  the  same  city,  and  by 
similar  railways  in  other  American  cities :  Boston  (1853), 
Baltimore  (1860),  Detroit  (1862),  Albany  (1863),  Indian- 
apolis (1864) ;  and  by  1870  there  were  lines  in  all  the  large 
cities  of  the  United  States. 

All  of  these  lines  were  constructed  by  private  corpora- 
tions, and  in  each  of  the  larger  cities  there  were  several  com- 
panies. The  first  franchises  in  New  York  were  granted  with 
no  limit  of  time,  although  a  five-cent  fare  was  required,  and 
the  companies  were  to  pave  the  streets  between  the  rails  and 
for  some  distance  on  either  side.  In  Massachusetts  also 
perpetual  franchises  were  granted,  which  were,  however,  at 
the  same  time  legally  revocable  by  the  municipalities  at  any 
time.  In  other  cases  the  street  railways  were  given  rights 
in  perpetuity  or  practically  so  (for  example,  at  Albany  a 

1  Meyer,  Konversationslexikon,  16 :  502. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPKOVEMENTS.     II  293 

franchise  was  given  for  one  thousand  years);  while  the  re- 
mainder of  the  early  American  franchises  were  for  long 
periods,  usually  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  years.  There 
were  few  or  no  other  restrictions  on  the  companies,  the  only 
general  requirement  being  that  the  company  was  to  pave  the 
street  surface  between  their  tracks.  Not  only  were  the  first 
grants  made  without  careful  consideration  or  attention  to 
detail,  but  the  arrangements  for  extensions  and  new  lines 
were  made  from  year  to  year  in  the  same  manner,  with  no 
general  plan,  and  hardly  two  grants  had  like  conditions. 
The  franchises  granted  by  Baltimore,  however,  constitute 
striking  exceptions  to  the  general  rule  of  carelessness  and 
negligence  in  framing  franchises.  Mayor  Swann  of  that 
city  secured  an  agreement  in  1859  providing  for  the  pay- 
ment to  the  city  of  20  per  cent  of  the  gross  receipts  and  for 
a  license  tax  of  $20  per  car,  stipulating  a  five-cent  fare  and 
free  transfers  to  any  part  of  the  city,  and  also  reserving  to 
the  city  the  right  to  purchase  the  equipment  at  intervals  of 
fifteen  years. 

In  Europe  street  railway  construction  did  not  develop  for 
nearly  two  decades  after  the  new  system  of  urban  trans- 
portation was  well  under  way  in  the  United  States.  A 
short  line  was  built  at  Paris  in  1853 ;  in  1865  a  line  from 
Berlin  to  Charlottenberg  was  opened ;  in  1860  a  road  was 
put  in  operation  at  Birkenhead;  and  in  1868  roads  were 
established  in  Vienna,  London,  and  Liverpool.  But  it  was 
not  until  after  the  passage  of  the  Tramways  Act  in  1870  that 
street  railway  construction  became  at  all  general  in  English 
towns,  and  on  the  Continent  very  little  was  done  in  this 
direction  until  after  1870.  Roads  were  established  in  Glas- 
gow in  1871,  in  Birmingham  in  1873,  in  Berlin  and  Paris  in 
1873,  and  in  Amsterdam  in  1876.  In  Glasgow,  Sheffield, 
and  a  few  other  towns  of  Great  Britain  the  construction  of 
the  roadbed  for  their  street  railways  was  undertaken  by  the 
municipality,  and  the  tracks  were  afterward  leased  to  an 
operating  company.  Elsewhere  both  construction  and  opera- 
tion were  intrusted  to  private  hands;  but  in  all  European 
cities  there  was  a  definite  and  carefully  drawn  contract  be- 


294  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

tween  the  city  and  the  company.  In  Great  Britain  the  term 
was  twenty-one  years,  and  on  the  Continent  most  of  the  early 
contracts  were  limited  to  twenty-five  years  or  less  ;  while  in 
all  European  countries  both  general  legislation  and  the  spe- 
cial contracts  with  the  cities  carefully  regulated  the  relations 
of  the  company  with  the  municipality  and  to  the  community. 

The  development  of  street  railways  in  the  United  States 
had  continued,  not  only  by  the  extension  of  lines  in  the  large 
cities,  but  also  by  the  establishment  of  new  roads  in  many 
smaller  cities.  Term  franchises  became  somewhat  more  fre- 
quent, although  the  period  was  still  fifty  years  or  more, 
while  in  other  respects  the  private  companies  remained  sub- 
ject to  little  control.  Even  in  Baltimore  the  conditions  of 
the  original  franchise  were  altered  in  favor  of  the  company. 
In  1870  the  elevated  railroad  was  constructed  in  New  York 
with  no  limit  on  its  occupation  of  the  streets  ;  and  although 
on  the  first  road  (that  on  Ninth  Avenue  north  to  Fifty-ninth 
Street)  a  payment  of  5  per  cent  of  gross  receipts  to  the  city 
was  required,  the  other  lines  and  extensions  were  exempt 
from  all  payments. 

In  the  largest  cities,  the  development  of  street  railway 
facilities  had  often  been  secured  by  grants  to  new  compa- 
nies, and  it  was  perhaps  felt  that  the  competition  between 
rival  lines  was  a  better  safeguard  to  public  interests  than 
intricate  and  rigid  conditions  in  the  franchise.  In  Philadel- 
phia street  railway  franchises  have  been  granted  to  thirty- 
nine  different  companies,  and  as  late  as  1880  there  were  as 
many  as  seventeen  operating  companies.  Soon  after  that 
date  there  began  a  process  of  rapid  consolidation  of  all  of 
the  lines,  in  most  cases  into  a  single  operating  company  for 
each  city,  such  as  the  Union  Traction  Company  of  Phila- 
delphia, the  West  End  Railway  (now  the  Boston  Elevated 
Railway  Company),  and  the  Metropolitan  Street  Railway 
Company  of  New  York.  Contemporaneous  with  the  process 
of  consolidation  went  the  application  of  new  methods  of 
traction.  In  the  early  eighties,  cable  roads  were  built  in 
several  large  cities,  where  the  large  traffic  warranted  the 
heavy  cost  of  construction.  An  experimental  electric  road 


MUNICIPAL  IMPKOVEMENTS.    II  295 

was  successfully  constructed  at  Berlin  in  1879,  and  other 
roads  were  built  at  Lichtenfeld  (Germany)  in  1881,  and  at 
Port  Rush  (Ireland)  in  1883,  the  third-rail  system  being 
used.  An  electric  road  established  at  Cleveland  (Ohio),  in 
1884,  used  for  the  first  time  an  underground  slotted  con- 
duit. None  of  these  methods,  however,  offered  opportu- 
nities for  a  general  change  in  the  methods  of  passenger 
transportation.  In  1885  the  first  overhead  trolley  line  was 
put  in  operation  at  Kansas  City,  and  after  a  few  years  more 
of  experimental  lines,  the  trolley  system  began  to  be  adopted 
on  a  large  scale  in  1888.  Among  the  cities  where  this 
system  was  first  introduced  are  Toronto  (1885),  Richmond 
(1887),  and  Allegheny.1  In  Washington  overhead  wires 
were  not  allowed,  and  there  the  conduit  system  was  first 
used  on  an  extensive  scale. 

After  1890  the  transition  from  horse  to  electric  power 
was  rapidly  made  in  almost  every  American  city.  The 
rapid  transportation  afforded  by  the  new  motive  power  led 
to  an  astonishing  development  of  traffic ;  and  this,  in  turn, 
aided  by  the  cheaper  operating  cost,  has  resulted  in  new 
extensions,  construction  in  small  towns,  and  even  the  estab- 
lishment of  inter-urban  electric  lines.  The  objection  to 
the  overhead  wires  and  the  persistence  of  small  companies 
delayed  the  transition  to  electric  power  in  Manhattan 
Borough  of  New  York  city ;  but  the  financial  strength  that 
has  come  through  consolidation  has  made  possible  the  recent 
construction  of  underground  conduits  for  the  principal  lines 
in  the  American  metropolis. 

The  formation  of  the  consolidated  traction  companies,  the 
extensions  of  the  street  railway  systems,  the  change  in 
motive  power,  and,  to  some  degree,  the  expiration  of  former 
franchises,  have  in  combination  led  to  new  agreements  in 
recent  years  between  the  companies  and  municipal  authori- 
ties in  many  American  cities.  These  new  agreements,  in 
nearly  every  case,  impose  stricter  conditions  on  the  compa- 
nies than  the  early  franchises.  The  new  charters  are  ordi- 
narily for  a  limited  term,  rarely  more  than  twenty-five 

1  Gassier^ s  Magazine,  16 :  361. 


296  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

years  ;  but  Buffalo,  in  1890,  granted  a  franchise  for  999 
years,  while  in  Pennsylvania  and  Massachusetts  revocable 
perpetual  grants  are  still  made.  There  are,  however,  few 
exceptions  to  the  rule  that  in  these  new  agreements  there  is  a 
provision  for  some  payment  to  the  city.  The  most  frequent 
provision  in  this  regard  is  for  a  fixed  proportion  of  the  gross 
receipts.  In  Cincinnati,  Providence,  and  Richmond,  this 
rate  is  5  per  cent.  Various  systems  of  car  licenses  and 
taxes  on  dividends  and  franchise  values  are  also  used  in 
different  cities.  The  provision  for  paving  the  streets  be- 
tween the  tracks  is  also  found  in  nearly  every  case.  In 
Philadelphia  this  is  extended  to  include  the  pavement  of 
the  entire  surface  of  the  street  in  which  the  tracks  are  laid, 
and  about  $12,000,000  has  been  expended  by  the  trac- 
tion company  during  recent  years  for  paving  Philadelphia 
streets. 

European  cities  continue  to  be  far  behind  those  of  the 
United  States,  not  only  in  street  railway  mileage,  but  to 
a  still  greater  extent  in  the  amount  of  traffic.  The  first 
overhead  trolley  line  was  established  at  Leeds  in  1891 ;  but 
the  change  to  electric  traction  was  hardly  noticeable  before 
1894,  and  there  are  still  important  cities  where  the  electric 
system  has  not  yet  been  introduced.  The  German  cities  are 
the  most  advanced,  their  mileage  of  electric  roads  being 
equal  to  that  of  all  other  European  countries  combined. 
In  1900,  electric  roads  were  in  operation  in  99  German 
cities,  and  the  total  mileage  was  1793  miles,1  as  compared 
with  15,000  miles  in  the  United  States.  The  mileage  of 
the  electric  roads  in  Great  Britain  in  1899  was  only  210 
miles. 

In  Italy  the  first  electric  tramway  was  built  in  1890,  and 
ran  between  Florence  and  Fiesole.  A  line  was  established 
at  Genoa  in  1892,  and  one  at  Milan  in  1893  ;  but  these  were 
of  minor  importance.  Milan,  in  1894,  installed  the  first 
general  system  in  Italy ;  and  this  was  followed  by  similar 
works  at  Genoa  and  Rome  in  1895.  In  1898  electric  rail- 

1  Electrotechnische  Zeitschrift,  September,  1898 ;  Statistisches  Jahrbuch 
Deutscher  Stadte,  VH,  145  ;  Consular  Reports,  1901,  p.  378. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     II  29T 

roads  appeared  at  Turin,  Florence,  and  Naples  ;  and  in  1899, 
at  Leghorn.  Other  Italian  cities  where  electric  tramways 
are  now  operated  are  Palermo,  Nervi,  Perugia,  Como, 
Catania,  Spezia,  and  Brescia.  On  December  31,  1899,  there 
were  153.6  miles  of  electric  road  in  Italy,  and  600  miles  of 
urban  and  inter-urban  road  in  process  of  transformation.  In 
1900  arrangements  were  made  to  extend  the  tramway  at  Nice 
for  93  miles  through  the  Riviera.  New  lines  are  now  under 
construction  at  Trieste  and  Fiume.1 

The  new  contracts  in  all  European  cities,  due  to  changes  in 
motive  power  and  expiration  of  former  agreements,  are  very 
carefully  drawn.  These  contracts,  always  for  a  fixed  term, 
are  especially  detailed  in  the  case  of  the  German  cities,  where 
they  not  only  define  the  legal  relations  of  the  roads  and  mu- 
nicipalities, but  also  prescribe  the  detailed  regulations  for  the 
management  of  the  road.  They  specify,  for  example,  the  num- 
ber of  trips,  the  rates  of  fare,  the  hours  of  labor,  the  dimen- 
sions of  cars,  and  even  the  uniforms  to  be  worn  by  the 
employees.  Still  further,  they  require  the  redemption  of 
the  capital,  specify  the  details  of  repairing  and  mainten- 
ance, require  specific  extensions  of  the  system,  and  provide, 
at  the  expiration  of  the  contract,  either  for  the  free  trans- 
fer to  the  municipality  of  the  equipment  of  the  road,  or 
name  the  conditions  on  which  the  municipality  may  buy 
the  plant.2 

In  Great  Britain,  and  in  a  few  cities  in  other  countries, 
there  has  developed  within  recent  years  a  movement  toward 
municipal  ownership  and  operation  of  the  street  railway 
systems.  It  will  be  remembered  that  under  the  British 
Tramways  Act  of  1870  a  few  towns  constructed  the  tracks 
for  the  local  tramways,  leasing  them  after  completion  to  an 
operating  company.  This  municipal  ownership  of  the  tracks 
has  been  extended  by  the  construction  of  new  lines  in  these 
and  other  towns,  by  the  expiration  of  early  franchises  pro- 
viding that  the  tracks  should  revert  to  the  city  as  public 
property  at  the  expiration  of  a  term  of  years,  and  occasion- 

1  Engineering  Magazine,  November,  1900. 

*  Appendix  to  Report  of  Massachusetts  Street  Railway  Committee,  p.  74. 


298  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

ally  by  purchase  ;  so  that  a  large  part  of  the  street  railways 
in  the  United  Kingdom  are  now  owned  by  the  municipali- 
ties. In  1899  there  were  519  miles  of  municipal  railways, 
and  602  miles  of  private  roads.  Only  five  of  the  twenty-eight 
great  cities  in  the  United  Kingdom  —  namely,  Bristol,  Leices- 
ter, Cardiff,  Dublin,  and  Belfast  —  do  not  own  some  lines  of 
street  railway.  The  cities  of  Toronto  (Canada),  Frankfort- 
on-the-Main,  Liege,  and  Milan,  and  probably  some  other 
cities,  own  the  local  railways  and  lease  them  to  operating 
companies.  The  street  railways  of  Melbourne,  Australia, 
and  suburbs,  are  owned  by  a  joint  board  or  trust  representing 
the  municipalities  through  which  they  run,  but  they  are 
operated  by  a  private  company.  In  the  United  States  under- 
ground railways  or  subways  have  been  built  in  Boston,  and 
are  being  built  in  New  York,  by  the  municipal  authorities. 
In  the  case  of  Milan,  the  municipality  receives  the  entire 
income,  and  pays  the  operating  company  a  fixed  rate  for 
every  car-kilometre  travelled,  and  a  certain  proportion  of  the 
profits.  In  other  cases  the  company  pays  the  city  for  the 
use  of  the  tracks. 

While  municipal  ownership  of  street  railways  has  thus 
existed  in  Great  Britain  since  1870,  municipal  operation  was 
positively  forbidden  in  the  Tramways  Act  of  1870,  and  is 
only  of  recent  development.  The  first  exception  was  in  1882, 
when  the  corporation  of  Huddersfield  was  authorized  to 
operate  the  local  steam  tramways,  which  had  been  abandoned 
by  the  operating  company,  provided  no  reasonable  offer  could 
be  secured  from  another  operating  company  to  lease  the 
lines ;  and  with  some  hesitation  the  experiment  was  begun. 
The  next  instance  of  municipal  operation  occurred,  not  in 
Great  Britain,  but  in  the  United  States.  When  the  Brooklyn 
Bridge  over  the  East  River  was  opened,  in  1883,  the  cable 
road  over  it,  one  mile  in  length,  was  from  the  start  operated 
by  the  trustees  or  joint  committee  representing  the  two 
municipalities  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn.  It  continued  to 
be  operated  by  the  bridge  trustees  until  January  1,  1898, 
and  after  that  by  the  Department  of  Bridges  in  the  enlarged 
New  York  until  July,  1898,  when  arrangements  were  made  to 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     II  299 

operate  it  in  connection  with  the  Brooklyn  elevated  railroads 
by  the  company  owning  the  latter  roads. 

The  Huddersfield  and  Brooklyn  Bridge  railways  remained 
isolated  examples,  and  did  not  mark  the  beginning  of  any 
movement  toward  municipal  operation.  It  was  not  until 
1893  that  other  examples  appeared.  In  that  year  two 
British  cities  (Plymouth  and  Blackpool)  received  authority 
to  operate  their  tramways.  The  year  following  Leeds  and 
Glasgow  also  began  municipal  operation.  All  of  these 
instances  were  in  the  face  of  the  Tramways  Act  of  1870  ; 
and  a  standing  order  of  the  House  of  Commons  was  now 
adopted  shutting  out  any  further  bills  authorizing  municipal 
operation.  In  1896,  however,  this  order  was  repealed  ; 
Sheffield,  Dover,  Nottingham,  and  Hull  thereupon  received 
the  necessary  authority,  and  since  then  the  movement  in 
Great  Britain  has  extended.  Already  twenty  cities  are 
operating  the  local  railroads,  the  most  important  of  which  are 
Glasgow,  the  London  County  Council  (which  now  owns  23 
miles-  out  of  111,  and  is  taking  over  other  lines  as  the  fran- 
chises expire),  Liverpool,  and  Leeds.  Half  a  dozen  other 
towns  are  now  making  the  transition,  while  still  others,  such 
as  Birmingham  and  Manchester,  have  applied  for  authority 
and  have  declared  their  intention  to  work  their  lines  on  the 
expiration  of  the  present  leases.  Barmen  in  Germany  and 
Prague  in  Bohemia,  and  a  few  Swiss  towns,  also  operate  local 
street  railroads;  but  there  is  no  such  general  movement  in 
other  countries  as  in  Great  Britain. 

Public  Aspects.  —  It  is  evident  that  street  railways  are  to 
a  much  less  degree  under  municipal  management  than  either 
water  or  lighting  works.  In  explanation  we  may  note  that 
what  has  been  said  as  to  the  smaller  importance  of  the  public 
aspects  of  lighting  as  compared  with  water  supply  holds  true 
in  the  case  of  local  passenger  traffic.  There  is  not  the  need 
for  resorting  to  the  powers  of  eminent  domain,  nor  is  the 
problem  of  transit  facilities  so  closely  related  to  the  public 
health  as  is  the  water  supply.  At  the  same  time  the  opera- 
tion of  a  street  railway  system  requires  a  much  more  intricate 


300  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

and  involved  machinery  of  employees  and  of  technical  skill 
than  does  the  maintenance  of  streets  or  a  water  supply  sys- 
tem. On  the  other  hand,  it  is  true  that  the  street  railway, 
especially  in  its  latest  form,  involves  a  more  constant  disturb- 
ance of  the  street  surface  than  the  underground  conduits  for 
water  or  gas.  This  suggests  the  advantages  of  municipal 
ownership  of  the  tracks,  which  has  been  advocated  by  some 
as  the  best  solution  of  the  problem.  This  is  perhaps  a  stage 
that  will  come  into  use  in  the  United  States,  and  it  has 
already  been  favored  by  the  special  Massachusetts  Committee 
of  1898,  as  avoiding  the  difficulty  of  municipal  operation  of 
roads  running  through  several  cities.  It  seems  doubtful, 
however,  that  it  will  prove  a  final  solution ;  the  probability 
is  that  wherever  adopted  it  will  lead  in  time  (as  in  Great 
Britain)  to  municipal  operation. 

The  movement  toward  municipal  street  railways  in  Great 
Britain  has  been  favored  by  special  conditions.  One  impor- 
tant factor  has  been  the  decision  of  the  courts l  that  where  a 
municipality  purchases  an  existing  street  railway,  the  pur- 
chase price  is  not  to  include  anything  for  franchise  value  or 
the  good  will  of  the  company,  based  on  present  or  past  profits, 
but  is  to  be  simply  the  value  of  the  tangible  property  in 
place.  Where  a  term  franchise  has  yet  a  period  to  run,  or 
where  a  company  has  a  grant  in  perpetuity,  municipal  pur- 
chase would  necessarily  include  payment  for  the  value  of  the 
franchise.  In  Great  Britain,  however,  the  expiration  during 
recent  years  of  former  agreements  has  favored  municipal 
ownership.  At  the  same  time,  with  the  approach  of  the  date 
of  expiration,  the  private  companies  have  not  felt  warranted 
in  undertaking  extensive  improvements,  such  as  the  intro- 
duction of  electric  traction,  while  the  municipalities  already 
owning  electric  light  plants  have  been  more  ready  to  intro- 
duce the  new  system.  It  is  not  clear,  however,  that  if  the 
municipal  authorities  had  been  willing  to  make  new  contracts 
extending  the  period  of  private  operation,  the  companies 
would  not  have  been  as  ready  to  make  the  improvements  as 
they  have  been  on  the  Continent. 


1  Law  Eeports,  1894  A.C.,  456,  489. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     II  301 

Ferries 

Water  transportation  is  a  much  older  means  of  locomo- 
tion than  street  railways  ;  and  in  former  times  the  ferry 
privilege  for  any  city  near  a  river  was  usually  possessed 
by  the  municipality.  With  the  development  of  bridge 
construction,  however,  ferries  over  small  streams  have 
been  abandoned  ;  and  it  is  only  where  a  large  river  must  be 
crossed  by  considerable  traffic  that  there  are  now  important 
ferries. 

In  most  countries  the  cities  lease  their  ferry  franchises  to 
operating  companies.  The  most  important  case  is  New  York 
city,  where  the  various  ferry  lines  across  the  East  and  Hud- 
son rivers  pay  to  the  city  about  $ 350,000  a  year.  Other 
instances  of  ferry  franchises  are  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans, 
Toulon,  Venice,  Amsterdam,  Rotterdam,  Breslau,  Prague, 
and  St.  Petersburg. 

In  Great  Britain  there  are  some  important  instances  of 
municipal  operation  of  ferries  and  local  river  steamers.  The 
largest  strictly  municipal  ferry  is  that  across  the  Mersey 
from  Birkenhead  to  Liverpool,  owned  and  operated  by  the 
Birkenhead  corporation.  This  employs  eight  steamers,  and 
carries  7,000,000  passengers  a  year,  besides  freight  and  ve- 
hicles. The  total  receipts  for  the  year  ended  March  31, 1899, 
were  £  50,000  ;  the  operating  expenses  for  the  same  period 
aggregated  .£21,000  ;  and  after  making  charges  for  con- 
tingencies and  depreciation,  £11,000  were  handed  over  in 
aid  of  rates.  The  Trustees  of  the  Clyde  River  Navigation  — 
a  public  body  dominated  by  the  representatives  of  the  Glas- 
gow corporation  —  operate  not  only  twelve  ferries  across 
the  Clyde,  but  also  ten  small  steamers  plying  along  the  river, 
carrying  all  together  15,000,000  passengers  annually.  The 
gross  revenue  is  1160,000  and  the  expenses  $130,000  a  year. 
The  Belfast  ferries  are  also  operated  by  the  harbor  commis- 
sioners for  that  port ;  the  London  County  Council  runs  a 
free  ferrry  across  the  Thames  at  Woolwich,  with  a  traffic  of 
4,000,000  passengers  a  year  ;  and  there  are  further  instances 
of  municipal  operation  on  a  small  scale  in  other  British  towns. 


302  MUNICIPAL   ACTIVITIES 

Outside  of  Great  Britain,  the  only  important  examples  of 
municipal  ferries  are  at  Riga  in  Russia  and  at  Boston,  Mass. 
The  former  yield  a  gross  revenue  of  §52,000  a  year.  The 
latter  are  operated  at  a  loss  ;  but  they  have  under  all  sys- 
tems of  management  been  financial  failures.  From  the  first 
establishment  in  1833  to  1870  the  Boston  ferries  were  oper- 
ated by  private  companies,  at  times  with  competing  com- 
panies, and  at  other  times  with  a  monopoly ;  but  only  in  two 
years  (1853  and  1854)  did  any  ferry  company  declare  a 
dividend,  and  even  subsidies  from  the  municipal  government 
proved  of  no  permanent  value.  Since  1870  the  ferries  have 
been  operated  by  the  city,  and  by  1878  the  receipts  from 
tolls  equalled  current  expenditures.  But  in  1887  tolls  were 
cut  in  half,  foot  passengers  being  carried  for  one  cent ;  and 
there  has  been  a  constant  agitation  for  free  transportation. 
The  city  has  spent  two  and  a  half  million  dollars  more  than 
the  receipts  from  all  sources,  and  there  is  now  an  annual 
deficit  of  1100,000. 

DOCKS   AND  HAEBORS 

In  many  of  the  large  commercial  cities  the  dock  and  har- 
bor facilities  are  under  the  control  either  of  the  municipality 
or  of  public  boards  on  which  the  municipalities  are  repre- 
sented. Such  works  were  an  important  function  of  the 
ancient  and  mediaeval  commercial  cities,  and  also  of  the 
seaport  cities  of  Europe  in  the  early  centuries  of  the  modern 
era.  With  the  development  of  navigation  and  harbor  facili- 
ties during  the  nineteenth  century,  however,  the  works  of 
this  period  are  much  the  more  important,  although,  as  they 
often  represent  private  and  not  public  activity,  the  whole 
field  cannot  be  covered  here. 

At  present  most  of  the  large  harbor  works  in  Great 
Britain  are  under  the  control  of  special  harbor  trusts,  com- 
posed of  representatives  from  the  municipalities  and  from 
the  local  commercial  interests.  The  great  docks  of  London 
are,  however,  owned  by  joint  stock  companies.  Probably 
the  most  important  board  where  the  municipal  element  is 
still  dominant  is  the  Trustees  of  the  Clyde  River  Navi- 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     II  303 

gation,  which  have  carried  out  the  deepening  of  the  Clyde 
from  Glasgow  to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  constructed 
the  docks  and  warehouses  of  the  port.  As  early  as  1556  the 
corporation  of  Glasgow  undertook  to  deepen  the  shallow 
river,  but  little  was  accomplished,  and  the  Clyde  for  twenty 
miles  below  Glasgow  remained  navigable  only  for  herring 
boats  and  like  craft.  In  1662  the  corporation  began  the 
construction  of  a  harbor  at  Port  Glasgow.  In  1768  the  task 
of  deepening  the  river  to  6  feet  was  begun,  and  carried 
through  under  the  direction  of  the  corporation  in  1775.  In 
1809  the  members  of  the  Glasgow  corporation  were  formed 
into  the  Trustees  of  the  Clyde  River  Navigation,  with 
authority  to  deepen  the  river  to  at  least  9  feet.  The  work  of 
dredging  went  on  accordingly,  and  by  1818  vessels  in  the 
foreign  trade  were  for  the  first  time  able  to  come  up  to  Glas- 
gow. In  1825  plans  for  a  13-foot  channel  were  adopted,  and 
fifteen  years  later  it  was  decided  to  increase  the  depth  to  17 
feet.  Along  with  the  deepening  of  the  channel  went  the 
work  of  building  quays  along  the  river. 

In  1858  the  constitution  of  the  harbor  trust  was  materi- 
ally altered.  According  to  the  new  form,  which  is  still  in 
force,  the  municipal  corporation  was  represented  by  the 
Lord  Provost  and  nine  councillors,  while  fifteen,  additional 
members  were  authorized  from  the  shipping,  mercantile, 
and  trading  interests  of  Glasgow.  Under  this  management 
the  harbor  and  docks  have  been  steadily  improved.  There 
is  now  27  to  29  feet  of  water  in  the  river  to  Glasgow  at  high 
tide,  so  that  all  but  the  largest  vessels  can  come  up  to  the  city, 
while  the  largest  ship-building  yards  in  the  world  are  situated 
on  the  Clyde,  just  below  Glasgow.  Since  1865  three  large 
enclosed  tidal  docks  have  been  constructed,  with  a  water  area 
of  160.5  acres,  and  a  total  wharfage  of  6.25  miles,  and  30  acres 
of  sheds.  The  wharves  are  well  equipped  with  all  the  ma- 
chinery for  the  rapid  loading  and  unloading  of  vessels,  and 
the  equipment  includes  nine  miles  of  railway  tracks,  connected 
with  the  railway  system  of  Great  Britain.  The  total  cost  of 
the  Clyde  improvement  works  to  1897  was  170,000,000,  and 
the  gross  revenue  was  $ 50,000,000.  The  annual  revenue  is 


304  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

now  $2,000,000,  of  which  there  is  left,  after  paying  expenses 
and  fixed  charges,  a  surplus  of  $200,000  annually. 

The  first  dock  at  Liverpool  was  constructed  in  1709 ;  and 
during  the  eighteenth  century  the  municipal  corporation  ex- 
pended $1,200,000  on  docks  and  harbor  works.  The  later 
and  more  extensive  works  have  been  carried  on  by  the  Mer- 
sey Docks  and  Harbor  Board,  which  consists  of  twenty-four 
members  elected  by  the  ship-owners  or  dock  rate-payers,  and 
four  members  representing  the  county  boroughs  of  Liver- 
pool, Birkenhead,  and  Bolt  on.  The  docks  have  a  total  area 
of  1000  acres,  with  a  wharf  frontage  of  27  miles.  The  total 
expenditure  has  been  $200,000,000,  half  of  which  has  been 
spent  since  1857.  Receipts  are  about  $5,000,000  a  year. 

With  this  group  of  harbor  works  may  also  be  classed  the 
Manchester  ship  canal,  which  provides  not  only  a  channel 
from  the  Mersey  to  Manchester,  but  also  the  harbor  facilities 
at  Manchester.  That  municipality  has  invested  $25,000,000 
in  the  bonds  of  the  ship  canal  company,  and  that  sum  repre- 
sents about  one-third  of  the  total  expense  of  the  work.  As 
yet  the  canal  has  paid  interest  on  about  only  one-third  of 
the  loan  capital,  and  nothing  to  the  stockholders ;  but  it 
has  been  estimated  that  the  saving  in  freight  rates  on  Man- 
chester goods  amounts  to  $5,000,000  per  annum.  Man- 
chester is  also  represented  on  the  joint  committee  for  the 
improvement  works  and  control  of  the  Mersey  and  Irwell. 

Improvements  and  steamboat  landings  on  the  river  Thames 
are  under  the  control  of  the  Thames  Conservancy  Board. 
This  consists  of  thirty-seven  members,  most  of  whom  are 
representatives  of  the  various  municipalities  along  the  river  : 
the  London  County  Council,  the  City  of  London,  the 
boroughs  of  Oxford,  West  Ham,  and  Reading,  and  the  sev- 
eral county  councils.  The  remaining  members  are  selected 
by  the  Admiralty,  Board  of  Trade,  the  ship-owners,  dock- 
owners,  and  water  companies.  This  board  has,  however,  no 
jurisdiction  over  the  great  docks  of  London  for  foreign  ship- 
ping, which  are  owned  by  private  corporations. 

The  harbor  boards  for  most  of  the  other  port  towns  con- 
tain representatives  from  the  local  municipalities :  as  in 


MUNICIPAL   IMPROVEMENTS.     II  305 

Belfast,  Dublin,  Plymouth,  Newcastle,  Swansea,  Burnley, 
Gateshead,  and  South  Shields.  The  Southampton  Harbor 
Board  is  practically  identical  with  the  town  council,  while 
the  Bristol  and  Portsmouth  councils  have  direct  control  of 
local  docks,  but  in  these  cases  there  are  also  important  pri- 
vate or  government  docks. 

Municipal  docks  and  harbors  are  also  frequent  in  Ger- 
manic cities.  Those  of  Hamburg  are  as  extensive  as  the 
Glasgow  works ;  and  with  their  network  of  railroads,  their 
storage  warehouses  and  handling  equipment,  are  said  to 
offer  the  best  handling  facilities  in  the  world.  The  docks 
at  Antwerp  also  deserve  special  mention.  The  modern 
works  were  begun  by  Napoleon  during  the  French  occupa- 
tion, and  in  1815  they  were  handed  over  to  the  munici- 
pality. New  works  were  begun  in  1856,  and  since  then 
there  have  been  further  extensions  and  additions  to  the 
docks  by  the  municipality  to  keep  pace  with  the  recent  de- 
velopment of  the  commerce.  The  wharves  along  the  river 
front  belong  to  the  Belgian  government.  Other  important 
municipal  works  of  this  character  are  to  be  found  at  Amster- 
dam, Bremen,  and  Danzig.  The  river  wharves  at  Cologne, 
Mainz,  and  other  German  cities  are  owned  by  the  munici- 
palities ;  while  Vienna  and  Budapest  have  expended  large 
sums  on  the  improvement  of  the  Danube. 

In  other  European  countries  both  harbor  improvements 
and  docks  are  for  the  most  part  constructed  and  owned  by 
the  central  governments.  This  is  the  case  in  France,  Italy, 
Austria,  Russia,  and  Greece.  The  same  system  is  followed 
in  Australia  and  other  outlying  British  possessions.  In 
France  a  few  of  the  river  cities,  such  as  Lille  and  Roubaix, 
own  the  local  steamboat  wharves. 

Harbor  improvements  and  docks  in  the  United  States  fall 
into  two  distinct  classes.  The  works  connected  with  deep- 
ening channels  are  mainly  carried  out  by  the  national  gov- 
ernment, under  the  direction  of  the  corps  of  engineers  of  the 
United  States  army,  and  are  paid  for  from  the  general  funds 
of  the  United  States  treasury.  Docks  and  wharf  facilities,  on 
the  other  hand,  belong  generally  either  to  private  parties  or 


306  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

to  municipalities,  and  the  national  government  owns  only 
such  docks  and  wharves  as  are  necessary  for  the  use  of  the 
government  navy. 

By  far  the  most  important  case  of  municipal  ownership 
of  docks  is  that  of  New  York  city.  The  charter  of  1730 
granted  to  the  city  the  entire  water  front  of  Manhattan 
Island.  But  for  140  years  there  was  no  municipal  or  sys- 
tematic construction  of  docks.  Sites  were  leased  and  occa- 
sionally sold,  and  the  docks  were  built  and  managed  by 
private  parties.  In  1870  a  department  of  docks  was  estab- 
lished, consisting  of  three  commissioners  appointed  by  mu- 
nicipal authority ;  and  since  then  extensive  construction 
schemes  have  been  carried  through.  The  comparatively 
small  tidal  change  at  New  York  renders  unnecessary  the 
enclosed  docks  such  as  exist  at  European  ports.  The 
plan  under  construction  includes  a  broad  "  street "  250  feet 
wide,  enclosed  by  a  bulkhead.  From  this  bulkhead  are 
built,  on  wooden  piles,  piers  (some  as  long  as  800  feet) 
covered  with  two-story  sheds.  The  total  expenditure  since 
1870  has  been  over  130,000,000,  and  the  annual  income  from 
the  leases  of  wharf  property  is  about  $2,000,000.  Transfer 
machinery  and  railroad  facilities  are  very  deficient  compared 
with  those  of  the  great  European  ports,  or  at  the  docks  of 
the  transportation  lines  on  the  American  lakes,  although 
New  York  is  about  as  well  equipped  as  Boston  and  Phila- 
delphia, where  the  wharves  are,  for  the  most  part,  owned 
privately.  The  extension  of  wharf  facilities  is  hampered  by 
the  necessity  of  securing  legislative  authority  for  each  ex- 
tensive scheme,  and  by  including  the  debt  incurred  for  dock 
construction  in  the  municipal  debt,  the  total  of  which  must 
be  kept  within  the  constitutional  limit  of  10  per  cent. 

The  wharves  at  San  Francisco  are  under  the  control  of  a 
state  board  of  harbor  commissioners ;  while  at  Boston  there 
is  a  state  board,  and  at  Philadelphia  a  municipal  board,  which 
has  supervision  over  wharf  construction.  A  number  of  river 
cities  own  the  steamboat  landings  on  the  river  front.  St. 
Louis  has  a  gross  income  of  $64,000  a  year  from  this  source, 
and  New  Orleans  has  $40,000  a  year.  Other  cities  in  this 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     II  307 

group  are  Pittsburg,  Allegheny,  Louisville,  St.  Paul,  Mem- 
phis, and  Nashville.  In  other  cases  the  municipalities  own 
a  small  amount  of  wharf  property :  for  example,  Chicago, 
Philadelphia,  Boston,  Baltimore,  Cleveland,  Milwaukee,  and 
Albany. 

MABKETS  AND   ABATTOIRS 

The  market  privilege  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most 
important  factors  in  the  mediaeval  municipalities  of  Central 
Europe.  Many  German  cities  can  trace  their  markets  back  to 
the  thirteenth  century,  and  some  as  far  back  as  the  tenth. 
In  France  before  the  revolution  the  market  privilege  be- 
longed to  the  seigneurs  justiciers ;  but  upon  the  abolition  of 
their  privileges,  in  1790,  the  markets  were  taken  in  charge  by 
the  local  authorities.  In  England  the  market  privilege  was 
a  matter  of  grant,  at  first  by  the  Crown,  and  later  by  Parlia- 
ment ;  and  such  grants  were  formerly  made  to  private  indi- 
viduals as  well  as  to  municipal  corporations. 

Originally  these  markets,  in  connection  with  fairs  held  at 
less  frequent  intervals,  were  the  principal  centres  of  trade, 
both  wholesale  and  retail.  They  were  generally  held  in  the 
open  air,  and  the  activity  of  the  municipality  was  confined 
to  the  collection  of  tolls,  the  regulation  of  business,  and  the 
maintenance  of  order.  But  with  the  development  of  trade  in 
extent  and  complexity,  one  business  after  another  has  left  the 
public  market.  At  the  present  time  in  modern  urban  com- 
munities the  market  is  simply  the  central  location  where  the 
supply  of  perishable  food  products  is  brought  for  distribu- 
tion. A  central  situation  makes  easier  the  sanitary  inspec- 
tion and  control  over  the  sale  of  fresh  meats,  game,  fish, 
vegetables,  and  fruit. 

Since  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  erection  of 
municipal  market  halls  for  the  public  markets  has  become 
general ;  while  more  recently  the  erection  of  municipal  abat- 
toirs or  slaughter-houses  has  become  common.  The  Holies 
Centrales  at  Paris  were  begun  in  1854,  and  now  cover  an  area 
of  twenty-two  acres,  while  that  municipality  maintains  also 
nearly  a  hundred  retail  markets  in  various  parts  of  the  city. 


308 


MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 


Since  the  extension  of  the  city  boundaries,  the  private  slaugh- 
ter-houses in  the  suburbs  have  been  suppressed,  and  the  great 
municipal  abattoir  general  at  La  Villette  has  been  constructed. 
Other  cities  in  France  and  Italy  have  followed  the  example 
of  Paris ;  and  municipal  market  halls  and  abattoirs  are  to  be 
found  in  most  large  cities  in  these  countries.  In  German 
cities,  market  halls  date  only  from  1875,  and  in  most  cases 
they  have  been  built  since  1886.  In  the  latter  year  the  first 
housed  market  in  Berlin  was  opened,  while  there  are  now 
fourteen  different  market  buildings  in  different  parts  of 
the  city,  built  at  an  aggregate  cost  exceeding  $5,000,000. 
In  1883  the  Berlin  municipal  abattoirs,  costing  nearly 
§5,000,000,  were  opened,  supplanting  nearly  a  thousand  pri- 
vate slaughter-houses.  The  municipal  abattoirs  of  Munich, 
opened  in  1887,  abolished  eight  hundred  small  private  estab- 
lishments. The  most  important  instance  of  a  private  market 
in  continental  Europe  is  at  Antwerp.  The  Brussels  Council 
leases  the  market  of  that  city  en  bloc,  but  regulates  the  tolls 
and  charges  of  the  lessee. 

In  Great  Britain  municipal  markets  are  not  universal ;  but 
they  are  by  far  the  most  common  system  in  the  boroughs 
and  other  urban  districts,  as  is  shown  in  the  following  table 
for  England  :  *  — 


Urban  Dis- 

Markets in  the  Control  of 

London 

Boroughs 

tricts  not 

Districts 

Total 

Boroughs 

Local  authorities    .     . 

8 

216 

89 

8 

313 

Trading  companies     . 

2 

12 

34 

18 

64 

Private  persons  .     .     . 

2 

23 

109 

142 

274 

Other  bodies  of  persons 

1 

4 

11 

24 

39 

Quasi  market  rights    . 

1 

11 

10 

22 

No  markets  .... 

5 

12 

40 

67 

Totals  

13 

261 

266 

242 

769 

The  principal  London  markets  belong  to  the  city  corpora- 
tion, which  derives  from  them  a  net  profit  of  $230,000,  out  of 
a  total  income  of  nearly  $1,000,000.    Only  five  of  the  county 
1  Report  of  Royal  Commission  on  Markets. 


MUNICIPAL   IMPROVEMENTS.     II  309 

boroughs  do  not  have  municipal  markets.  The  most  impor- 
tant private  markets  are  in  Sheffield,  where  the  Duke  of  Nor- 
folk holds  the  market  privilege.  The  ten  municipal  market 
buildings  in  Manchester  have  cost  nearly  $750,000,  and  the 
seven  markets  of  Birmingham  about  1400,000.  Municipal 
abattoirs  are  found  only  in  about  two-thirds  of  the  boroughs 
having  over  100,000  population,  and  but  seldom  in  smaller 
places. 

In  Canada,  Australia,  and  South  America,  municipal  mar- 
kets and  (in  the  large  cities)  municipal  abattoirs  are  the 
prevailing  system.  The  markets  of  Sydney  are  valued  at 
$3,750,000. 

The  market  system  of  the  United  States  rests  on  an  en- 
tirely different  basis  from  that  in  the  countries  mentioned. 
While  the  municipal  authorities  generally  have  municipal 
markets,  the  monopoly  privilege  is  not  often  found  ;  and 
there  are  a  number  of  important  cities  and  many  small  cities 
with  no  municipal  markets.  In  the  latter  class  are  San 
Francisco,  Jersey  City,  Louisville,  Rochester,  and  Providence. 
Chicago,  Omaha,  and  Albany  have  public  market-places,  but 
no  municipal  market  buildings.  The  most  important  mu- 
nicipal markets  are  those  of  New  York  city,  where  the  gross 
revenue  from  the  thirteen  buildings  is  $450,000.  In  New 
Orleans,  where  the  city  has  a  monopoly  privilege,  it  receives 
from  the  lessees  $226,000  a  year.  The  Quincy  Market  of 
Boston  is  valued  at  $1,250,000,  and  produces  an  annual  in- 
come of  $84,000,  of  which  $60,000  is  net.  Baltimore  has  a, 
revenue  of  $59,000  from  its  markets ;  and  most  of  the  other 
important  cities  receive  smaller  sums.  Of  cities  having  a 
population  of  between  25,000  and  100,000,  only  about  one- 
third  have  municipal  markets  ;  while  no  United  States  city 
has  a  municipal  abattoir. 

CEMETERIES   AND   BURIALS 

Outside  of  Germany  and  Holland,  practically  all  the 
cemeteries  in  the  cities  of  continental  Europe  belong  to  the 
municipalities,  and  only  occasionally  are  there  non-municipal 
cemeteries,  for  non-Catholic  classes.  In  Germany,  Holland, 


310  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

and  also  in  Great  Britain,  there  are  municipal  cemeteries  in 
almost  every  city ;  but  there  are  also  some  exceptions,  —  for 
example,  Cologne,  Dresden,  and  Altona ;  while  in  other 
cases  the  municipal  cemeteries  are  no  longer  in  use  for 
burials;  and  in  most  of  the  large  cities  there  are  private 
cemeteries  in  addition  to  those  under  public  control. 
In  Hamburg  there  is  but  one  municipal  cemetery  as  against 
fifteen  under  private  control,  and,  only  six  German  cities  of 
over  50,000  population  have  no  private  cemeteries.  In  Great 
Britain  private  cemeteries  are  more  frequent  than  in  Ger- 
many, while  the  public  cemeteries  are  often  under  the  manage- 
ment of  a  burial  board  independent  of  the  other  municipal 
authorities. 

United  States  cities  generally  depend  upon  private  ceme- 
teries. Half  of  the  cities  with  over  25,000  population, 
and  two-thirds  of  those  with  over  100,000,  have  no  municipal 
cemeteries  except  for  the  burial  of  paupers ;  while  in  most 
of  the  cities  with  municipal  cemeteries  there  are  also  large 
private  bury  ing-grounds. 

In  some  cities  of  continental  Europe,  the  municipalities 
conduct  the  entire  work  of  burial  as  a  public  function. 
Among  these  are  Cologne,  Dresden,  Mainz,  Rome,  Naples, 
Milan,  and  Ghent.  A  few  Swiss  towns  and  also  the  city  of 
Basel  perform  this  work  free  of  charge. 

MUNICIPALIZATION   OF   COMMERCIAL  UNDERTAKINGS 

The  difficulties  and  limitations  of  comparison  of  private 
with  municipal  undertakings  are  numerous.  In  the  first 
place,  undertakings  which  are  municipalized,  or  which  it  is 
proposed  to  municipalize,  have,  in  addition  to  the  purely  busi- 
ness side  (profit  and  loss),  an  important  social  aspect ;  and 
municipal  control  means  in  almost  every  case  a  greater 
degree  of  attention  paid  to  these  social  aspects,  such  as 
better  facilities  to  the  consuming  public  and  better  compen- 
sation to  the  employees.  This  amelioration  of  social  con- 
ditions cannot  be  balanced  in  figures  against  diminished 
profits. 

Assuming,  however,  the  municipal  works  operated  on  a 


MUNICIPAL   IMPROVEMENTS.     II  311 

purely  business  basis,  exact  statistical  comparisons  are  rarely 
practicable  with  any  figures  at  hand.  In  some  cases  com- 
parisons are  made  of  prices  charged  by  private  companies 
with  the  cost  of  municipal  operation,  while  it  is  clear  that 
interest,  taxes,  and  depreciation  of  plant  and  equipment 
must  also  be  included.  Interest  and  taxes  can  sometimes  be 
accurately  ascertained,  but  it  is  most  difficult  to  learn  any- 
thing definite  concerning  depreciation,  as  it  requires  exact 
knowledge  of  the  particular  plants,  and  cannot  be  determined 
with  accuracy  by  estimating  with  any  universally  applicable 
rate  per  cent. 

Even  if  these  difficulties  were  removed,  there  still  remains 
the  important  fact  of  different  conditions  in  different  places. 
Prices  of  raw  material  vary,  local  difficulties  may  add  to  the 
cost  of  construction  works.  In  comparing  the  social  bene- 
fits, prices  may  be  on  entirely  different  bases.  Take,  for 
example,  the  subject  of  water  rates :  these  may  be  based  in 
one  town  upon  the  quantity  of  water  used  as  measured  by 
meter,  and  in  another  upon  a  fixed  rate  per  house ;  of  two 
towns  both  using  the  meter  method  of  estimating  charges, 
each  may  have  adopted  a  different  point  of  measurement ; 
and  of  two  towns  both  using  a  fixed  rate  per  house,  the  word 
"  house  "  may  mean  a  different  thing  in  each.  Street  car 
tolls  offer  the  same  obstacle  :  a  fixed  street  car  rate  cannot 
be  compared  with  a  rate  varying  according  to  the  distance 
travelled.  Finally,  as  between  different  countries,  and  to 
some  extent  also  between  different  cities  in  the  same  coun- 
try, there  are  important  differences  in  the  purchasing  power 
of  money  and  in  customs,  which  seriously  affect  comparisons. 
For  instance,  the  street  railway  traffic  in  England  cannot  be 
compared  with  that  of  the  United  States,  on  account  of  the 
differing  degrees  of  density  of  population,  and  of  differences 
in  the  value  of  money,  and  in  the  rates  charged  and  facili- 
ties offered  by  other  means  of  locomotion,  such  as  cabs  and 
steam  railroads. 

The  question  for  or  against  the  municipalization  of  com- 
mercial undertakings  must,  then,  be  decided  largely  on  general 
grounds.  The  most  important  consideration  is  that  of  the 


312  MUNICIPAL  ACTIVITIES 

social  benefits  to  be  derived  from  municipal  control;  and  the 
strength  of  this  argument,  positively  or  negatively,  will  de- 
pend on  public  sentiment  as  to  how  far  improved  conditions 
should  be  furnished  at  the  expense  of  general  taxation.  From 
a  purely  business  standpoint,  there  are  certain  advantages  in 
favor  of  either  municipal  or  private  control.  Municipalities 
have  the  advantage  of  lower  rates  of  interest  on  capital  than 
private  companies,  and  furthermore  they  issue  no  watered 
stock  on  which  interest  must  be  paid.  On  the  other  hand, 
private  companies  are  in  general  willing  to  pay  much  higher 
wages  of  superintendence  than  municipalities,  thus  securing 
the  most  efficient  management,  while  at  the  same  time  the 
non-technical  management  (usually  a  board  of  directors)  is 
more  permanent,  and  so  more  likely  to  pursue  a  continuous 
policy. 

These  are  the  principal  permanent  features.  Other  argu- 
ments against  municipalization  are  the  spoils  system  and 
municipal  corruption.  As  to  the  first,  its  existence  is  bound 
to  add  much  to  the  expense,  and  to  detract  from  the  efficiency 
of  municipal  work ;  but  we  seem  to  have  passed  the  period  of 
wholesale  removals  of  subordinate  employees  with  each  change 
of  administration,  and  this  is  no  longer  a  vital  matter.  In 
regard  to  corruption  among  the  managing  officials,  it  may  be 
noted  that  dishonest  and  corrupt  practices  of  directors  in 
private  companies  are  by  no  means  unknown.  Moreover,  one 
of  the  chief  sources  of  municipal  corruption  in  the  past  has 
been  in  connection  with  franchises  to  private  corporations; 
while  with  municipal  ownership,  not  only  would  the  added 
importance  and  responsibility  of  municipal  work  tend  in  some 
degree  to  secure  better  municipal  officials,  but  also  those  citi- 
zens who  as  officers  of  corporations  were  formerly  interested 
in  securing  the  best  terms  for  their  company  become,  as  tax- 
payers, interested  in  obtaining  the  most  efficient  management, 
and  are  likely  to  use  their  influence  in  the  interest  of  better 
government. 

A  practical  factor  to  be  borne  in  mind  in  the  United  States 
is  the  existence  of  constitutional  debt  limits,  which  place  an 
effective  check  on  municipal  activity.  As  it  is  more  impor- 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENTS.     II  313 

tant  that  a  city  should  not  neglect  the  works  in  which  it  is 
engaged  than  that  it  should  undertake  new  works,  care  must 
be  taken  not  to  take  up  new  lines  of  activity  which  will  bring 
the  debt  so  close  to  the  limit  as  to  hamper  the  development  of 
other  undertakings.  Thus  it  is  very  doubtful  if  New  York, 
with  the  works  of  water  supply,  docks,  and  the  rapid  transit 
tunnel  under  way,  could  take  up  the  construction  of  gasworks 
or  surface  railways  (or  could  undertake  the  purchase  of  exist- 
ing plants)  without  intrenching  on  the  debt  limit  and  stopping 
other  needed  improvements.  Even  where  the  debt  limit  is 
not  in  question,  too  many  new  undertakings  might  retard 
the  development  of  municipal  works. 

Conclusions.  —  1.  Where  a  private  company  has  shown 
itself  well  managed  and  active  in  the  public  interest,  it  seems 
doubtful  policy  to  run  the  risk  of  a  less  able  management 
under  municipal  cpntrol ;  but  agreements  even  with  such  a 
company  should  be  carefully  drawn  to  safeguard  the  interests 
of  the  city. 

2.  In  the  case  of  franchises  granted  without  proper  pro- 
visions, the  first  step  to  be  taken  is  to  compel  the  reduction 
of  rates  or  an  improvement  in  facilities,  so  that  the  company 
will  receive  only  a  fair  income  from  its  property.     If  this  is 
not  done,  little  will  be  gained  by  a  municipal  purchase  of  the 
plant  at  the  swollen  values  due  to  the  high  rates  charged. 

3.  After  such  reduction  in  rates,  or  upon  the  expiration  of 
a  franchise  in  a  city  which  has  managed  other  public  works 
with  success,  and  is  not  already  involved  in  as  many  under- 
takings as  it  can  manage,  municipal  ownership  of  monopolies 
is  advisable. 


PART  III 
MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 


PART  III  — MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

CHAPTER  XIII 

MUNICIPAL  EXPENDITURES 

Authorities.  —  G.  CADOUX  :  Les  Finances  de  la  ville  de  Paris,  1789-1900 
(Essay  on  municipal  finances  of  other  cities). — L.  PAUL-DUBOIS  : 
Essai  sur  les  finances  communales. — O'MEARA  :  Local  Taxation  at 
Home  and  Abroad.  — C.  H.  BLUNDBN  :  Local  Taxation  and  Finance. — 
EDWIN  CANNAN:  History  of  Local  Rates  hi  England.  —  Reports  of 
the  Local  Government  Board.  —  Reports  on  Local  Taxation  by  George 
J.  Goschen  (1870)  and  H.  H.  Fowler  (1889)  in  Parliamentary  Papers, 
1898,  Vol.  77. —  Situation  financiere  des  communes  en  France,  1899. 
—  Report  of  Poor  Law  Commissioners  on  Local  Taxation,  1843. — 
A.  G.  DESBATS  :  Le  Budget  Municipal.  —  Journal  Royal  Statistical 
Society,  5  :  97-168 ;  68  : 327  ;  63  : 367.  —  Economic  Journal,  June, 
September,  1899.  —  Zeitschrift  fur  die  Staatswissenschafl,  56  :  510.  — 
Contemporary  Review,  34  : 678-697.  —  Political  Science  Quarterly, 
78 : 268. 

A  DETAILED  study  of  municipal  expenditures  involves  an 
investigation  into  the  whole  field  of  municipal  activity,  such 
as  has  been  attempted  in  the  preceding  chapters.  This 
chapter  rather  attempts  to  look  at  the  net  results  of  munici- 
pal activity  as  one  whole,  signified  by  the  sum  total  of 
expenditures  for  all  purposes.  Only  in  some  of  the  broadest 
features  will  it  be  possible  to  indicate  the  relative  impor- 
tance of  the  different  objects  of  expenditure. 

As  a  further  preliminary,  it  should  perhaps  be  repeated 
that  the  word  "municipal"  is  used  in  a  broad  sense.  In 
Great  Britain  regularly,  and  in  America  frequently,  there 
are  several  local  corporations  in  the  larger  communities,  only 
one  of  which  is  spoken  of  as  the  "municipal  corporation." 
Not  only  such  "municipal  corporations,"  but  all  these  local 
authorities  will  be  considered  whose  functions  are  related  to 
the  municipal  authorities  in  such  a  country  as  Germany, 

817 


318 


MUNICIPAL   FINANCES 


where  the  municipal  council  is  the  general  agency  for  all  the 
local  interests. 

Any  one  at  all  aware  of  the  extraordinary  development  of 
cities  and  of  municipal  activities  during  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, and  especially  during  the  latter  part  of  it,  is  doubtless 
somewhat  prepared  to  hear  of  a  vast  increase  in  the  total 
expenditures.  Yet  even  such  an  one  will  probably  be 
startled  at  the  figures  which  appear  for  the  various  coun- 
tries. The  first  table  presents  statistics  for  the  various  local 
authorities  in  England  and  Wales,  showing  the  increase  in 
local  taxation  since  1803,  and  the  total  local  expenditure 
since  1868 11— 


Year 

Local  Bates 

Local  Expenditures 
(including  Loans) 

1803 

£  5,348,000 

1817 

10,107,000 

1841 

8,108,000 

1862 

12,207,000 

1868 

16,783,000 

£30,454,523 

1883 

24,470,790 

63,420,923 

1893 

30,206,484 

66,890,962 

1897 

35,898,774 

78,523,271 

1899 

38,602,673 

92,696,586 

During  the  century  the  population  of  England  and  Wales 
has  slightly  more  than  trebled,  but  the  taxes  collected  by 
local  authorities  have  multiplied  nearly  sevenfold.  In  the 
four  decades  since  1862,  the  total  population  has  gained 
50  per  cent,  and  the  local  taxes  and  local  expenditure  have 
trebled.  The  per  capita  taxation  has  increased  in  the  cen- 
tury from  fl.50  to  16.25.  The  aggregate  local  expenditure, 
which  now  is  much  larger  than  the  local  taxation,  has  more 
than  trebled  since  1868,  while  population  has  increased  in 
that  period  by  less  than  50  per  cent. 

No  less  significant  figures  are  presented  from  France  for 
the  period  from  1836  to  1899:  — 

ifieports  on  Local  Taxation  by  George  J.  Goschen  (1871)  and  H.  H.  Fowler 
(1893),  and  Local  Taxation  Returns  in  Parliamentary  Papers. 


MUNICIPAL  EXPENDITURES  319 

ORDINARY  EXPENDITURES  OF  FRENCH   COMMUNES1 


Year 

Paris 

Other  Communes 

Total 

francs 

francs 

francs 

1836 

36,600,000 

83,830,926 

120,430,926 

1859 

51,970,000 

1869 

131,485,000 

1881 

222,778,007 

1891 

264,691,174 

376,927,942 

641,619,116 

1899 

304,372,669 

426,015,996 

730,388,665 

While  population  has  gained  one-sixth,  municipal  expendi- 
tures have  increased  six  times.  The  population  of  Paris 
has  trebled,  and  the  public  expenditures  have  gained  eight 
times,  the  increase  being  distinctly  since  1859.  Nine  large 
cities  next  in  rank,  with  an  aggregate  population  in  1871  of 
1,378,457,  expended  28,066,497  francs ;  in  1899,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  2,020,905,  the  aggregate  expenditure  for  the  same 
cities  was  62,236,775  francs. 

For  other  countries,  no  such  long-period  comparisons  are 
available ;  and  for  some  no  complete  figures  even  for  recent 
years  are  at  hand.  The  general  tendency  may,  nevertheless, 
be  indicated  by  the  statistics  furnished :  — 

BELGIAN  COMMUNES 


Items 

1866 

1892 

Ordinary  expenditure     .     . 
Extraordinary  expenditure 

francs 
38,589,914 
34,760,205 

francs 
117,144,576 
62,172,216 

Total 

73,350  119 

179  316  792 

This  increase  of  more  than  100  per  cent  in  local  expenditures 
has  been  accomplished  by  a  gain  in  population  of  25  per  cent. 
In  Italy  the  total  expenditure  of  the  communes  has  risen 
from  325,363,613  lira  in  1871  to  545,385,242  lira  in  1897,  in 
spite  of  the  pressure  of  national  taxation,  which  has  seriously 

1  Paul-Dubois :  Essai  sur  les  finances  communales;  Situation  flnanciere 
des  communes,  1899. 


320 


MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 


limited  the  possibilities  of  imposing  further  burdens  for  local 
improvements.  For  Germany  the  following  statistics,1  show- 
ing the  municipal  revenue  from  the  land  tax  (Grrundsteuer) 
in  Saxony,  illustrate  the  same  tendency :  — 


Year 

Cities 

Rural  Communes 

Total 

1844 
1897 

marks 
11,774,228 
47,268,013 

marks 
36,719,001 
44,346,498 

marks 
48,493,279 
91,613,511 

For  some  other  countries,  where  no  general  statistics  are 
available,  statistics  for  single  cities  must  be  used.  The  fol- 
lowing figures  will  show  the  same  marked  advance  in  mu- 
nicipal expenditures  throughout  Europe,  and  even  in  the 
awakened  Japan :  — 

MUNICIPAL  EXPENDITURES « 


Cities 

1877 

1887 

1897 

Vienna  

$12,020,000 

$13,100,000 

$28,518,000 

Amsterdam8  .    .     . 

6,520,000 
3,078,000 

6,372,000 
5,264,000 

12,990,000 
5,376,000 

1,310,000 

2,320,000 

4,330,000 

Tokio     

173,000 

430,000 

1,477,000 

If  there  were  records  of  the  aggregate  municipal  expendi- 
ture in  the  United  States  from  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  they  would  show  an  even  more  astonishing 
development  than  in  other  countries.  This,  however,  would 
be  in  large  part  due  to  the  primitive  conditions  and  insig- 
nificant expenditures  at  the  beginning  of  the  century.  But 
even  during  the  later  decades  the  increase  in  municipal 
expenditure,  as  indicated  by  the  local  taxation,  is  more 
marked  than  in  any  other  country.  Note  the  following 
statistics :  *  — 

1  Revue  generate  &  administration,  Vol.  66,  p.  75. 

2  Cadoux :  Les  Finances  de  Paris. 
8  Statistics  for  1878,  1888,  1898. 

«  From  United  States  Census  reports. 


MUNICIPAL  EXPENDITURES 
UNITED  STATES 


321 


Year 

Municipal  Taxation1 

State,  County,  and 
Municipal  Taxation 

Estimated  True 
Valuation  of  Property 

1860 
1870 
1880 
1890 

$134,794,108 
190,874,968 
306,099,783 

$  94,186,746 
280,591,521 
313,921,474 
471,345,140 

$16,159,000,000 
30,068,000,000 
43,642,000,000 
65,037,000,000 

From  1860  to  1890,  while  the  population  doubled  and  the 
estimated  value  of  property  increased  fourfold,  the  total  of 
state  and  local  taxation  gained  fivefold.  The  figures  for 
1870  are  currency  values,  inflated  by  the  gold  premiums  ; 
but  without  making  any  allowance  for  that,  municipal  taxa- 
tion in  1890  was  two  and  a  half  times  that  of  1870.  The 
aggregate  expenditures  is  always  in  excess  of  the  taxation, 
and  in  1890  the  municipal  expenditure  was  $423,667,503. 

For  a  few  of  the  larger  cities  the  development  of  expendi- 
ture can  be  shown  for  a  longer  period,  as  in  the  following 
table  for  New  York,  Baltimore,  Boston,  and  Detroit :  — 

MUNICDPAL  EXPENDITURES  :  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Yew 

New  York  » 

Baltimore  » 

Boston  * 

Detroit  • 

Amount 

Per 
Cap. 

Amount 

Per 

Cap. 

Amount 

Per 

Cap. 

Amount 

Per 
Cap. 

$ 

$ 

$ 

$ 

1 

$ 

$ 

$ 

1798 

108,000 

1.80 

64,381 

2.47 

1830 

676,018 

3.43 

331,392 

4.17 

1840 

1,605,742 

5.13 

442,006 

4.33 

1850 

3,368,163 

6.53 

687,972 

4.07 

1860 

8,473,657 

12.14 

2,875,774 

13.56 

3,578,372 

20.00 

205,445 

4.50 

1870 

26,532,761 

28.14 

5,270,621 

19.74 

12,866,176 

28.14 

710,660 

8.93 

1880 

29,754,553 

24.66 

6,081,171 

18.32 

12,200,398 

23.62 

1,004,634 

8.63 

1890 

34,985,680 

23.09 

7,599,763 

17.51 

17,965,443 

39.84 

2,546,327 

12.36 

1899 

93,520,082 

27.21 

24,768,092 

44.02 

3,662,877 

12.82 

1  Including  school  districts. 

3  Durand :    Finances  of  New  York  City ;   Report  of  Comptroller,  1899. 
These  figures  include  state  taxes  collected  in  the  city. 
8  J.  H.  Hollander :  The  Financial  History  of  Baltimore. 
*  N.  Matthews:  City  Government  of  Boston;  Auditor's  report,  1899-1900 
6  Report  of  the  Controller,  1899-1900.    The  last  figures  are  for  1900. 


322 


MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 


Here,  again,  it  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  the  gold  pre- 
mium which  increased  the  currency  expenditure  in  1870 ; 
while  in  the  case  of  New  York  the  expenditures  for  that  year 
and  neighboring  ones  were  also  largely  increased  by  the 
operation  of  the  Tweed  Ring. 

Comparisons  between  the  total  municipal  expenditures  in 
various  countries  are  of  limited  value.  The  per  capita  ex- 
penditure, for  example,  will  vary  with  the  proportion  of 
urban  population,  with  the  relative  distribution  of  urban 
population  between  cities  of  various  grades,  and  also  with 
the  degree  to  which  different  functions  are  performed  by  the 
municipal  authorities  in  different  countries  and  cities.  The 
figures  will  therefore  indicate  the  net  results  of  a  series  of 
complicated  factors,  and  can  be  interpreted  only  in  a  general 
way.  The  table  below  gives  a  general  comparison  of  the 
countries  for  which  figures  are  available,  with  data  taken  as 
nearly  as  possible  for  the  same  year  :  — 

COMPARISON  OF  TOTAL   MUNICIPAL  EXPENDITURES 


Country 

Year 

Population 

Amount 

Per  Capita 

United  States  .    . 
England  and  Wales 
Italy   

1890 
1890 
1891 

62,622,250 
29,002,525 
29,699,785 

$423,667,503 
290,920,930 
105,940,686 

$   6.80 
10.03 
3.53 

France    .... 
Belgium  .... 

1891 
1892 

38,343,192 
6,030,043 

128,323,823 
35,863,338 

3.34 
5.97 

The  United  States  holds  first  position  in  the  gross  amount 
of  expenditure  mainly  because  it  has  so  much  larger  popula- 
tion than  the  other  countries  in  the  list.  The  per  capita 
figure  for  England  and  Wales  is  distinctly  the  highest,  and 
presents  a  striking  illustration  of  the  large  proportion  of 
urban  population  and  the  great  development  of  municipal 
activities  in  the  English  towns.  Belgium  is  somewhat  below 
the  United  States  in  per  capita  expenditure,  but  in  relative 
urban  population  and  municipal  activities  Belgium  is  the 
more  advanced  of  the  two,  and  the  higher  figure  in  the 
United  States  is  to  be  ascribed  mainly  to  a  higher  scale  of 


MUNICIPAL  EXPENDITURES 


323 


money  expenditure  for  the  same  services.  A  study  of  urban 
population  and  municipal  activities  in  Germany  indicates 
that  it  would  fall  in  the  same  group  with  the  United  States 
and  Belgium.  France  and  Italy  are  distinctly  below  the 
other  countries,  illustrating  at  the  same  time  the  smaller  de- 
velopment both  in  urban  population  and  in  municipal  action. 
As  between  these  two  countries  there  is  comparatively  little 
difference  in  the  general  result.  While  France  has  in  Paris 
one  of  the  four  most  important  municipal  centres  in  the 
world,  it  has  few  other  cities  of  importance ;  and  Italy  has 
a  number  of  cities  in  the  second  rank. 

Of  greater  value  than  the  comparison  just  made  would  be 
a  study  of  the  expenditures  for  different  purposes  and  the 
relative  importance  of  the  various  objects  of  expenditure  in 
the  various  countries.  Here,  however,  the  investigation  is 
limited  by  the  lack  of  detailed  and  classified  statistics.  Com- 
plete statistics  classifying  expenditures  in  any  systematic 
fashion  are  available  only  for  England  and  Wales,  the 
United  States,  and  Italy ;  while  even  in  these  cases  the  bases 
of  classification  are  so  different  that  comparisons  between 
them  are  difficult.  Some  points  may,  however,  be  brought 
out  by  the  following  tables  :  — 


LOCAL  EXPENDITURES :  ENGLAND  AND  WALES 
EXCLUDING  RECEIPTS  FROM  LOANS 


Items 

1883-1884 

1887-1888 

1892-1898 

1897-1898 

Police  and  Care  of  Prisoners 
Fire  Brigades  

£ 

3,632,529 
194,672 

£ 
4,059,953 
203,300 

4,797,867 
255  802 

6,of9,417 
349  398 

Poor  Relief 

6  776  478 

6  687  396 

7  184  158 

8  297  668 

Insane  Hospitals  .... 
Education  (Schools)      .     . 
Libraries  and  Museums 
Streets  and  Roads     .     .    . 
Bridges  and  Ferries  .     .     . 
Parks  and  Open  Spaces 
Sewerage  and  Drainage  .     . 
Waterworks     

1,418,431 
2,876,119 
129,743 
6,644,832 
111,641 
140,977 
814,744 
856,360 

1,456,251 
3,766,048 
188,120 
5,585,443 
199,795 
188,120 
957,329 
879,167 

1,766,932 
5,425,341 
285,334 
7,247,853 
177,249 
346,139 
1,223,836 
1,010,008 

2,069,859 
7,806,102 
378,128 
8,032,313 
206,035 
519,423 
1,562,667 
1,284,478 

2  359  828 

2,609  722 

3  480  925 

3  956  793 

Other  Public  Lighting  .  . 
Markets  and  Fairs  .  .  . 
Slaughter-houses  .... 

862,570 
278,783 
16,241 

905,666 
284,973 
14,507 

1,063,990 
324,383 
19,242 

1,501,454 
375,665 
27,143 

324 


MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 
LOCAL  EXPENDITURES   (Continued} 


Items 

1888-1884 

1887-1888 

1892-1893 

1897-1898 

Cemeteries  

£ 

233  708 

£ 

248  743 

£ 

301  603 

£ 

347  889 

Public  Baths  

113,902 

120,815 

209  844 

296  284 

Dwelling  Imp't  Schemes  . 
Allotments  
Harbors,  Piers,  Docks  .  . 
Tramways  .  • 

98,575 
1,460,020 

24,236 

1,312,731 
20  545 

42,227 
8,899 
1,660,920 
51  818 

42,388 
45,138 
1,624,669 
342  576 

Other  Public  Works  .  .  . 
Private  Imp't  Works  .  . 
Interest  and  Loans  .  .  . 
Salaries,  not  itemized  .  . 
Legal  and  Parl.  Expenses  . 
Public  Buildings  .... 
Other  Payments  .... 

2,262,492 
592,289 
9,808,144 
1,750,776 

193,723 

2,173,338 
548,160 
10,693,124 
1,912,696 
119,163 
182,963 

2,963,119 
766,218 
11,909,913 
2,312,205 
151,846 
242,185 
465,837 

4,051,807 
1,006,156 
14,218,949 
2,824,915 
204,305 
293,914 
588,684 

Total  

43  378  267 

45  834  026 

56  062  721 

67  823  716 

MUNICIPAL  EXPENDITURES:    UNITED   STATES  CITIES  — 1890 


Items 

Cities  over 
60,000 

Cities  4000- 
60,000 

Total  Municipal 
Expenditure 

Police    

$18,426,757 

$  4,158,504 

$  23,934,376 

Fire  Brigades      

10  997,115 

4,349,203 

16,423,820 

Health  Department     .     .    . 

2,335,609 
8,322,841  1 

691,640 
1,921,616! 

3,280,294 
26,967,238 

27,442,042  l 

10,853,822  1 

139,286,854 

Streets  and  Bridges     .     .    . 

20,497,700 
3,446,353 

14,458,228 
4,129,972 

|  72,262,655 

Parks    

2,526,584 

253,652 

2,962,697 

Waterworks  (net)  .... 

2,416,409 
7,183,047 

1,294,028 
3,556,357 

5,517,193 
11,363,780 

Public  Buildings      .... 
Salaries,  not  itemized  .     .    . 

40,098,896 
10,974,737 
17,182,012 

2,739,191 
3,269,753 

7,283,382 

42,838,087  2 
14,244,4902 
24,465,394  2 

Miscellaneous     

14,182,012 

9,337,418 

40,120,625 

Total  Ordinary  .... 
Population,  1890     .... 
Per  Capita  Expenditure  .     . 

$186,298,254 
11,270,210 
$16.80 

$68,296,666 
7,161,017 
$9.75 

$423,667,503 
62,622,250 
$6.80 

Total  Ordinary  Expenditures 
Investments  and  Transfers  . 
Loans  Repaid     

$186,298,254 
104,021,623 
55  780,324 

$68,296,666 
8,779,843 
17,931,354 

$264,594,920 
112,901,466 
71,711,678 

Balances        

60,320,114 

12,688,395 

73,008,509 

Gross  Expenditures     .     . 

$404,420,315 

$107,696,268 

$512,116,673 

1  Excluding  expenditure  by  other  authorities  than  the  city  corporations. 
8  Expenditure  for  cities  with  over  4000  population. 


MUNICIPAL   EXPENDITURES 
MUNICIPAL  EXPENDITURES:    ITALY 


325 


Items 

1882 

1897 

lira 
53,844,082 

lira 
80,084,906 

79,602,178 

97,247,131 

54,940,648 

86,548,249 

Public  Security  and  Justice    

9,018,716 

10,696,792 

Public  Works  

90,790,404 

77,379,616 

Public  Instruction     

53,534,089 

75,945,801 

Churches     ...          .              .         .     . 

3,921,146 

3,449,559 

Charities      

19  816  146 

23,314,494 

Ordinary  Expenses  .         .... 

365  477  780 

454,666,348 

Movement  of  Capital     

38  782  007 

90,718,894 

Total           ...          .          .... 

404  259  787 

545,385,242 

The  amount  expended  for  police  purposes  in  England  and 
Wales  is  about  the  same  as  in  the  United  States.  But  for 
the  United  States  this  is  only  5  per  cent  of  the  total 
expenditure,  while  for  England  it  is  8  per  cent;  and  in 
Italy  16  per  cent  of  the  municipal  outlay  is  for  police 
purposes.  The  per  capita  expenditure  for  the  whole  popu- 
lation is  not  significant;  but  the  relative  expenditure  in 
proportion  to  the  urban  population  is  about  the  same  for 
England  and  the  United  States,  and  distinctly  higher  for  Italy. 
This  indicates  a  general  similarity  in  the  police  expenditures 
of  the  two  former  countries,  while  the  larger  ratio  to  total 
expenditure  for  England  shows  that  other  items  of  ex- 
penditure are  not  so  important  there  as  in  the  United  States. 
In  Italy  the  police  expenditure  is  not  only  a  larger  share  of 
the  total  than  in  either  England  or  the  United  States,  but  is 
also  markedly  higher  in  proportion  to  urban  population  than 
in  either  of  the  other  countries.  The  expenditures  for  fire 
brigades  in  the  United  States  are  many  times  those  for  the 
same  purpose  in  England  and  Wales,  and  the  differences 
here  illustrate  the  remarkable  development  of  fire  brigades 
in  this  country. 

1  Bilanci  Comunali  per  V  anno  1897. 


326  MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

In  the  group  of  public  works,  the  differences  in  classifica- 
tion makes  possible  comparisons  only  in  regard  to  streets  and 
roads  and  parks.  In  both  departments  the  total  expendi- 
tures in  the  United  States  are  notably  larger  than  in  England. 
On  streets  and  roads  the  proportion  of  total  expenditure 
and  per  capita  outlay  in  the  two  countries  is  about  the 
same;  but  it  is  difficult  to  draw  any  definite  conclusions, 
because  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  in  the  English  statis- 
tics between  the  city  streets  and  country  roads.  For  parks, 
the  expenditure  in  American  cities  is  seen  to  be  much  larger 
than  in  England,  from  every  point  of  view. 

For  public  charities  the  municipal  expenditures  in  Eng- 
land and  Wales  are  notably  higher  than  in  the  United  States; 
and  in  proportion  to  population  the  showing  is  even  larger 
for  the  former  country.  This  difference  is  due  in  part  to  the 
larger  proportion  of  private  charities  in  the  United  States, 
but  doubtless  also  in  part  to  a  smaller  need  or  demand  for 
relief  in  this  country.  In  Italy  the  municipal  expenditures 
for  charities  are  far  less  than  those  in  the  United  States  in 
proportion  to  population  as  well  as  in  total  amount.  Private 
charities,  especially  endowed  institutions,  supply  a  large  part 
of  the  needed  alms,  while  the  standard  of  need  which  will 
lead  to  public  relief  is  undoubtedly  much  lower  in  Italy. 

In  the  field  of  education  the  municipal  expenditures  for 
the  United  States  are  far  and  away  the  highest.  They  are 
five  times  those  for  England  and  Wales,  and  ten  times  those 
for  Italy.  Allowing  for  differences  in  population,  the 
amount  for  the  United  States  is  still  two  and  a  half  times 
that  for  England  and  five  times  that  for  Italy. 

Turning  from  countries  as  a  whole  to  particular  cities,  the 
number  of  municipalities  which  will  receive  special  considera- 
tion is  necessarily  very  small.  The  following  table  presents 
in  some  detail  the  ordinary  expenditures  for  the  five  great 
metropolitan  communities  of  London,  New  York,  Paris, 
Berlin,  and  Chicago.  These  are  the  places  where  the  prob- 
lems of  urban  communities  are  most  pressing,  where  mu- 
nicipal activities  are  most  extensive,  and  where  per  capita 
municipal  expenditures  are  the  largest. 


MUNICIPAL  EXPENDITURES  327 

MUNICIPAL  EXPENDITURES:   METROPOLITAN  CITIES 


Items 

London  • 

New  York 

Paris 

Berlin 

Chicago 

1897-1898 

1899 

1898 

1898-1899 

1899 

Police  .... 

$8,009,6301 

$  11,182,532 

$8,175,0001 

$3,145,5421 

$3,905,705 

Fire  Brigade      . 

816,440 

4,443,614 

518,303 

690,000 

1,648,494 

Streets  and  Parks 

8,960,735 

12,442,939 

5,079,500 

4,348,691 

52,584,088 

Sewers  .... 

1,835,970 

787,479 

863,672 

805,000* 

382,967 

Water  Supply    . 

2,201,780 

1,090,428 

2,125,0002 

1,396,500 

Lighting   .     .     . 

1,538,655 

1,290,463 

1,998,012 

539,198 

520,931 

Charities  .    .    . 

17,601,380 

4,982,478 

5,890,887 

2,732,200 

Education     .    . 

13,520,355 

13,415,053 

5,465,643 

4,234,4502 

7,030,776 

Debt  (Interest 

and  Payments) 

7,525,160 

23,476,840 

21,006,543 

8,893,850 

Total  Ordinary 

Expenses   .    . 

67,907,950 

87,244,4228 

66,770,000^ 

35,144,000 

19,744,267 

Municipal  Debt 

243,206,515 

251,632,705 

443,000,000 

66,219,175 

29,163,723 

1  Including  state  grants  toward  support  of  police  :  Berlin,  $2,094,000  ;  Paris, 
$2,110,000.  Under  London  the  amount  given  is  not  the  entire  cost  of  the 
Metropolitan  Police,  but  only  the  proportionate  share  for  the  administrative 
county  of  London.  2  1897-1898. 

8  Excluding  state  taxes,  but  including  county  expenditure. 

4  Excluding  $55,000,000  for  refunding  municipal  debt. 

5  Expenditures  of  Park  Boards  not  included. 

•PUBLIC  EXPENDITURES  IN  LONDON  — 1897-1898 
Excluding  duplicates,  and  expenditures  out  of  loans 


Items 

County 
Council 

District 
Boards 

City  Cor- 
poration 

Special 
Boards 

Totals 

Police    

£ 

£ 

£ 

153  684 

£ 
1  448242 

£ 
1  601  926 

Fire  Brigade  .... 

163288 

163  288 

Charities 

15209 

3  505067 

8  520  276 

Education  : 
Schools  

Libraries     .    .         .    . 

147,106 

82  775 

16,468 
8  602 

2,451,584 

48  586 

2,615,108 
89  968 

Public  Works  : 
Streets    
Bridges  and  Ferries      .     . 
Street  Cleaning    .... 
Lighting     
Sewers    

20,769 
80,184 

190,968 

640,876 

583,640 
294,193 

167  002 

93,141 
24,214 

48,087 
13,538 
9224 

754,286 
54,898 
581,727 
807,731 
867  194 

Garbage 

291  836 

291  836 

Parks      
Others    ...              .     . 

101,207 
41,028 

23,437 
45829 

10,786 
8  181 

135J430 
94988 

Private  Improvements    .     . 
Baths  and  Wash-houses  .     . 
Markets 

158,034 
108,288 

14,069 
188  534 

82,438 

158,034 
204,790 
138  534 

Cemeteries     

75,810 

75810 

Salaries  ....              .     . 

189  792 

191  069 

57582 

888443 

Interest 

667  178 

111  907 

196  260 

975  345 

Loans  paid     

34106 

266433 

229  148 

529  687 

All  others  

177.431 

157,654 

185,783 

17,028 

557,996 

Totals     
Including  duplicates  .    .    . 

1,728,286 
4,066,804 

3,022,448 
4,671,968 

1,202,251 
1,495,408 

7,628,705 
7,994,663 

18,581,590 

328  MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

The  expenditures  for  New  York,  Paris,  and  Berlin  are 
readily  obtained  from  the  official  reports  of  these  cities,  since 
there  is  in  each  case  a  central  finance  system  for  the  whole 
community.  In  London,  however,  the  financial  authority  is 
distributed  among  a  host  of  officials ;  accordingly,  the  figures 
here  presented  for  London  as  a  whole  have  been  compiled 
from  the  reports  of  these  officials  to  the  Local  Government 
Board.  For  Chicago  only  the  figures  of  the  city  corpora- 
tion are  available ;  while  in  any  comparison  of  total  expen- 
ditures, the  cost  of  the  park  boards  and  town  governments  in 
Chicago,  and  a  large  share  of  the  expenses  of  Cook  County 
and  the  sanitary  district,  should  also  be  included. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  total  expenditures  here  shown  for 
Chicago  cannot  be  compared  with  the  totals  for  the  other 
cities.  Further,  the  fact  that  the  London  water  supply  is 
in  private  hands  makes  the  London  accounts  deficient  in  that 
important  item  present  in  all  of  the  other  cities.  Again,  the 
New  York  total  is  necessarily  higher  than  it  should  be  for 
comparative  purposes,  on  account  of  the  expenditures  on  the 
municipal  docks,  for  which  there  is  no  corresponding  item  in 
the  other  accounts ;  while  the  Berlin  figures  include  expen- 
ditures for  the  municipal  gasworks.  These  facts  indicate 
some  of  the  difficulties  which  make  practically  impossible 
any  safe  deductions  from  the  aggregate  expenditures  in  the 
different  cities.  The  most  that  can  be  said  is  that,  after 
making  allowances  for  such  important  differences  as  are 
indicated  above,  the  expenditures  of  Paris  are  largest  in 
proportion  to  population  of  any  of  the  cities  in  the  list, 
those  of  New  York  second,  and  those  of  Berlin  the  lowest. 

In  the  various  items  there  are  some  significant  contrasts 
between  the  various  cities.  The  American  cities  spend  pro- 
portionately much  larger  sums  than  the  European  cities  for 
police,  fire  brigades,  streets  and  parks,  and  schools  ;  but  it 
would  require  a  more  intensive  investigation  than  can  be 
made  here  to  determine  how  far  this  is  due  to  better  equip- 
ment and  higher  rates  of  wages  in  this  country,  and  how 
far  it  indicates  extravagance  or  corruption.  The  London 
expenditures  for  poor  relief  are  vastly  greater  than  in  the 


MUNICIPAL  EXPENDITURES 


329 


other  cities;  while  Paris  takes  the  lead  in  payments  for 
public  lighting  and  on  account  of  its  enormous  debt,  the 
legacy  of  the  great  improvement  schemes  in  the  French 
capital. 

The  next  table  presents  similar  data  in  reference  to  a 
larger  number  of  cities  which  rank  next  to  those  just  men- 
tioned. Here  again  the  difficulties  of  comparison  and  the 
dangers  of  hasty  conclusions  must  be  borne  in  mind,  espe- 
cially in  reference  to  the  totals  for  each  city.  But  with  this 
word  of  caution,  the  figures  must  be  left  to  speak  for  them- 
selves. The  most  striking  fact  is  the  large  expenditures  for 
Boston,  which  are  higher  in  proportion  to  population  even 
than  those  for  Paris  and  New  York. 


MUNICIPAL  EXPENDITURES1  —  1898-1899 
(In  thousands  of  dollars) 


i 

5 

fi 

1 

2  1 

I 

i! 

M 

i! 

*! 

1 
1 

jl 

» 

33 

3 

1 

j 

Debt 
Pajrmentfl  1 

Philadelphia 

1,298,697 

41,211 

19,284 

8464 

990 

1787 

118 

1811 

1138 

650 

8412 

8858 

St.  Louis 

575,288 

19,104 

9110 

1459 

727 

1012 

90 

609 

417 

627 

1470 

1279 

Boston 

560,892 

59,299 

19,762 

1880 

1191 

1688 

850 

983 

678 

795 

2770 

201T 

Baltimore 

508,957 

32,928 

7121 

1079 

491 

801 

18 

902 

895 

808 

1348 

1920 

Glasgow 

785,000 

48,000 

679 

110 

900 

228 

1062 

188 

f 

1280 

1580 

Liverpool 

668,643 

60,000 

380 

115 

860 

110 

1880 

214 

f 

660 

2050 

Manchester 

589,079 

79,000 

280 

56 

1170 

240 

f 

280 

860 

425 

2480 

Birmingham 

510,848 

48,000 

870 

49 

295 

81 

? 

117 

f 

585 

2150 

Munich 

445,000 

25,000 

5820 

f 

88 

128 

? 

274 

274 

805 

1060 

1040 

Leipzig 

422,000 

15,000 

5110 

710 

104 

156 

28 

280 

580 

448 

1040 

600 

Dresden 

883,000 

10,000 

?6540 

f 

f 

221 

84 

80 

260 

368 

1140 

460 

Amsterdam 

508,000 

40,000 

5570 

440 

120 

380 

88 

299 

172 

502 

1308 

2170 

Rome 

491,000 

48,000 

4840 

812 

52 

865 

f 

98 

287 

n.  m. 

603 

f 

Brussels 

205,000 

56,000 

6000 

278 

67 

192 

24 

140 

f 

140 

546 

1860 

Copenhagen 

849,000 

16,600 

8180 

320 

81 

206 

? 

86 

f 

908 

558 

471 

Barcelona 

520,000 

f 

?6180 

886 

49 

816 

85 

82 

275 

170 

160 

1180 

Madrid 

609,000 

16,000 

?6050 

210 

104 

875 

88 

? 

f 

204 

232 

1140 

Lyons 

466,000 

f 

2260 

156 

47 

322 

27 

75 

78 

275 

499 

1072 

Marseilles 

447,000 

21,000 

8250 

284 

f 

462 

18 

260 

180 

408 

644 

1235 

Bordeaux 

256,000 

6,900 

1780 

200 

' 

149 

14 

83 

55 

227 

244 

560 

1  Bulletin  of  the  Department  of  Labor,  September,  1900 ;  Cadoux,  Let 
Finances  de  Paris,  680,  698. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

MUNICIPAL  DEBTS 

THE  subject  of  loans  and  debts  must  be  considered  some- 
what apart  from  either  that  of  expenditures  or  of  revenues, 
because  it  has  to  do  with  both.  The  loan  is  in  the  first 
place  a  source  of  revenue,  while  the  debt  caused  by  the  loan 
gives  rise  to  a  standing  item  in  the  list  of  expenditures. 
This  dual  nature  of  the  subject  suggests,  too,  its  considera- 
tion as  the  transition  from  the  subject  of  expenditure  to  that 
of  revenue. 

Municipal  debts  are  not  altogether  a  novel  feature  in 
municipal  finance ;  but  in  their  purpose  and  amount  the 
municipal  debts  of  to-day  differ  so  radically  from  those  of 
former  periods  that  the  recent  changes  are  the  most  striking 
features  of  the  present  system.  In  former  centuries  debts 
were  incurred  by  the  localities  to  meet  extraordinary  de- 
mands from  the  Crown  and  to  secure  resources  for  carrying 
on  military  operations;  debts  were  on  the  whole  excep- 
tional ;  standing  debts  were  very  rare  ;  and  the  amounts  of 
outstanding  debt  from  the  point  of  view  of  to-day  were 
almost  insignificant.  At  the  present  time  the  municipal 
debts  are  incurred  for  the  erection  of  permanent  works,  so 
as  to  distribute  the  cost  of  construction  over  the  period  for 
which  the  works  will  be  in  existence.  The  principal  objects 
of  loans  are  (1)  the  commercial  undertakings,  such  as  water- 
works and  gasworks,  which  are  directly  reproductive ; 
(2)  street  construction ;  and  (3)  public  buildings,  notably 
those  used  as  public  schools.  In  connection  with  the  great 
development  along  these  lines  of  municipal  activity  there 
has  been  a  steady  and  rapid  advance  in  the  amount  of 
municipal  debt,  especially  in  the  last  fifty  years  ;  and  in 

330 


MUNICIPAL  DEBTS 


331 


every  city  of  any  importance  a  debt  of  a  considerable  amount 
is  a  permanent  feature  of  the  municipal  financial  system. 

The  large  municipal  works  which  inaugurated  this  bor- 
rowing on  a  large  scale  began  about  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  but  the  progression  has  continued  without 
any  cessation  up  to  the  present  time.  In  England  the 
amount  of  municipal  debt  has  trebled  since  1875  ;  in  France 
it  has  increased  by  two-thirds  since  1868 ;  in  the  United 
States  it  more  than  doubled  between  1879  and  1890  ;  and  in 
every  country  the  amount  of  municipal  debt  is  large,  and 
gives  rise  to  serious  problems. 

In  the  following  table  aggregate  statistics  of  municipal  debt 
for  the  most  important  countries  are  presented :  — 

STATISTICS  OF  MUNICIPAL  DEBTS 


Country 

Year 

Total  Debt 

Debt  per  Capita 

England  and  Wales     .    . 
United  States  

1898 
1890 

$1,310,000,000 
761,165  008 

$42.00 
12  28 

France    

1899 

736,000,000 

19.40 

Italy  . 

1889 

207,000,000 

7.30 

1880 

116,000,000 

21.00 

This  shows  that  the  largest  gross  and  proportionate  debt 
is  in  England,  and  that  country  has  nearly  double  the  per 
capita  rate  of  Belgium,  where  the  next  largest  proportionate 
debt  is  found.  The  per  capita  debt  of  France  is  slightly 
lower  than  that  of  Belgium,  the  United  States  ranks  fourth 
in  this  regard,  while  Italy  has  the  lowest  per  capita  of  the 
countries  named.  Germany  probably  holds  about  the  same 
relative  position  as  the  United  States. 

A  striking  feature  of  this  subject  is  the  large  number  of 
small  municipalities  which  have  incurred  debts  within  recent 
years.  In  France  in  1862  only  12  per  cent  of  the  communes 
had  any  indebtedness  ;  while  by  1890  the  percentage  had 
increased  to  73.  In  Italy  in  1877  40  per  cent,  and  in  1889 
64  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  the  communes  had  debts  ; 
while  in  the  Province  of  Rome  only  14  out  of  227  communes 
had  no  debts  at  the  latter  date. 


332 


MUNICIPAL   FINANCES 


Nevertheless,  the  great  bulk  of  the  municipal  debt,  like 
the  bulk  of  the  expenditure,  is  that  of  the  large  cities.  In 
France  the  debt  of  Paris  represents  more  than  half  of  the 
total;  the  debt  of  cities  containing  more  than  50,000  in- 
habitants is  74  per  cent  of  the  total ;  and  of  246  towns,  with 
an  aggregate  of  one-quarter  the  total  population  of  the  coun- 
try, is  84  per  cent  of  the  total.  In  Italy  the  debt  of  395 
towns,  each  with  more  than  10,000  population,  amounted  to 
81  per  cent  of  the  total  debt ;  and  the  debt  of  the  63  prov- 
ince capitals  equalled  63  per  cent.  In  England  in  1891 
urban  debt  was  92  per  cent;  rural  debt,  1.3  per  cent ;  and 
debt  of  mixed  (urban  and  rural)  districts  6.7  per  cent.  In 
the  United  States  in  1890  cities  of  over  4000  population 
had  85  per  cent  of  the  total  municipal  debt. 

In  the  following  table  is  shown  the  total  and  the  per 
capita  debt  of  some  of  the  principal  cities  of  the  world :  — 

MUNICIPAL  DEBTS,    1898-18991 


City 

Amount 

Per 

Capita 

City 

Amount 

Per 
Capita 

Brussels  .    .    . 

$  56,000,000 

$280 

Glasgow  .    . 

$43,000,000 

$59 

ZUrich  (1891)  . 

230 

Liverpool    . 

43,000,000 

90 

Paris  .... 

443,000,000 

160 

Birmingham 

60,000,000 

86 

Antwerp  (1891) 

165 

Lyons     .    . 

14,000,000 

32 

Manchester.    . 

79,000,000 

150 

Marseilles  . 

18,600,000 

42 

Boston    .    .    . 

59,000,000 

105 

Bordeaux    . 

6,000,000 

24 

Cincinnati  .     . 

27,263,313 

83 

Lille  .    .    . 

6,400,000 

30 

New  York   .    . 

251,632,705 

73 

Havre     .    . 

6,600,000 

55 

London  .     .    . 

243,206,515 

54 

Rouen    .    . 

8,200,000 

74 

Berlin      .    .    . 

66,219,175 

37 

Amsterdam 

40,000,000 

80 

Munich   .    .    . 

25,000,000 

55 

Rome      .    . 

80 

Leipzig    .    .    . 

17,500,000 

40 

Milan     .    . 

54 

Dresden  .     .    . 

10,700,000 

27 

Chicago  .    . 

29,163,723 

17 

Breslau   .    .    . 

13,000,000 

32 

Philadelphia 

41,211,030 

32 

Cologne  .    .    . 

10,000,000 

29 

St.  Louis     . 

19,105,594 

33 

Frankfort    .    . 

17,700,000 

68 

Baltimore   . 

32,928,106 

64 

Hanover  .    .    . 

16,000,000 

68 

Cleveland   . 

12,233,020 

32 

1  Cadoux,   Les  Finances  de   Paris.      Statistisches  Jahrbuch   Deutscher 
Stadte,  VIII.    Paul-Dubois,  Essai  sur  les  finances  communales. 


MUNICIPAL  DEBTS  333 

The  amount  of  the  debts  of  the  large  cities  is  a  necessary 
result  of  the  vast  expenditure  made  during  the  last  half  cen- 
tury for  public  works,  and  in  the  case  of  many  of  the  older 
cities  for  the  almost  complete  reconstruction  of  large  parts 
of  the  cities  ;  and  it  is  at  the  same  time  a  significant  indica- 
tion of  the  size  of  the  outlay  for  such  purposes.  It  is  not 
possible  to  deny  the  value  and  importance  of  this  expendi- 
ture, nor  to  shirk  the  duty  of  providing  for  the  health  and 
safety  of  the  community  in  accordance  with  modern  scien- 
tific knowledge  and  engineering  skill.  It  is  therefore  un- 
reasonable to  class  municipal  debt  incurred  for  these  works 
as  a  necessary  proof  of  extravagance  and  financial  mis- 
management. At  the  same  time,  however,  it  must  also  be 
recognized  that  the  enormous  development  of  municipal  debt 
constitutes  one  of  the  serious  problems  of  municipal  finance, 
and  that  there  is  always  the  danger  that  loans  may  be  in- 
curred for  expenditures  properly  chargeable  to  current  funds, 
or  more  freely  than  the  resources  of  the  community  warrant. 
However  important  the  public  works  of  the  modern  move- 
ment, it  is  equally  essential  that  the  expenditure  be  limited 
by  the  available  assets  of  the  community.  The  danger  of 
excessive  debt  is  most  serious  in  the  smallest  cities.  The 
largest  cities,  while  they  have  the  largest  debts,  have  also 
the  largest  resources,  and  also  the  best-developed  financial 
administration.  The  cities  of  moderate  size,  however,  which 
attempt  to  equal  the  works  of  the  metropolis  without  its 
available  sources  of  revenue,  are  very  likely  to  find  them- 
selves in  serious  difficulties.  In  the  70's  many  towns  in  the 
United  States  bonded  themselves  so  heavily  for  railroad  aid 
that  repudiation  was  resorted  to,  and  even  the  considerable 
city  of  Elizabeth,  N.J.,  was  forced  to  bankruptcy  by  its 
extravagant  construction  of  street  works. 

In  the  various  countries  of  Europe  the  loans  of  the  mu- 
nicipalities are  generally  subject  to  the  control  of  the  higher 
authorities.  This  control  is  exercised  in  France  by  the  pre- 
fects ;  in  Prussia  by  the  bezirk  presidents  and  province  gov- 
ernors ;  in  England  by  the  Local  Government  Board.  In 
the  United  States  there  is  no  systematic  supervision,  but 


334  MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

instead  in  many  cases  there  are  constitutional  or  legislative 
provisions  limiting  the  total  amount  of  debt  to  a  certain 
per  cent  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  property.  These  limi- 
tations run  all  the  way  from  2  per  cent  (as  in  Boston  and 
Detroit)  to  10  per  cent  (as  in  New  York  and  Louisville)  ; 
while  in  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  the  limit  is  15  per  cent,  and 
for  a  number  of  cities  there  are  no  limits  established  (for 
example,  Baltimore,  Cincinnati,  Newark,  Jersey  City,  and  St. 
Paul).  The  wide  differences  caused  by  variations  in  the 
limits  are  added  to  by  the  varying  bases  of  valuation ;  and 
there  is  no  system  of  adjusting  the  amount  of  the  debt  to 
the  real  financial  resources  of  the  city.  Sometimes  debt 
incurred  for  waterworks  is  exempted  from  the  limit,  as  a 
self-sustaining  undertaking. 


CHAPTER  XV 
MUNICIPAL  REVENUES 

THERE  are  three  main  categories  of  municipal  receipts : 
1,  commercial  receipts  from  public  property  and  public  ser- 
vices ;  2,  subventions  or  grants  from  the  government ;  and 
3,  fiscal  receipts  from  various  systems  of  local  taxation. 
The  last  is  everywhere  the  most  important,  but  a  few  words 
must  be  said  as  to  the  other  two. 

COMMERCIAL   REVENUE 

The  original,  and  until  the  modern  urban  movement 
the  principal,  source  of  municipal  revenue  was  from  the 
domain  lands,  which  the  towns  retained  as  public  property 
after  the  partition  of  the  mediaeval  common  fields  to  in- 
dividual holders.  The  origin  of  these  communal  lands 
goes  back  to  the  beginnings  of  the  mediaeval  town  system ; 
but  we  need  only  note  the  fact  that  after  the  system  of 
common  ownership  had  given  way  to  individual  proper- 
ties, there  remained  considerable  tracts  of  land  belonging 
to  the  community  collectively,  and  subject  to  common  use 
for  pasturage,  wood,  and  the  like.  During  the  nineteenth 
century,  however,  throughout  Europe  these  common  lands 
have  been  used  as  sources  of  revenue.  In  Central  and 
Western  Europe  they  have  been  largely  sold  outright  and  a 
considerable  part  of  the  income  has  vanished ;  but  in  Russia 
and  Austria  the  communal  domain  continues  to  be  a  con- 
siderable and  important  source  of  revenue,  which  in  some 
backward  towns  yields  from  30  to  40  per  cent  of  the 
total.  Vienna  derives  $  1,500,000  a  year  from  her  common 
lands. 

335 


336  MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

In  Prussia  the  communes  receive  but  14  per  cent  of  their 
revenues  from  this  source ;  in  France,  11  per  cent ;  in  Italy, 
10  per  cent;  and  in  Belgium,  9  per  cent.1  In  Great  Britain 
this  source  of  income  is  of  still  less  significance.  Many  of 
the  large  cities  are  of  such  recent  development  that  they  have 
no  ancient  property,  while  others  have  generally  disposed  of 
their  former  estates.  The  city  of  London  has,  however,  a 
revenue  of  $900,000  a  year  from  rentals  ;  Liverpool,  $800,000; 
Newcastle  and  Doncaster,  over  $100,000  each — the  last,  a 
town  of  25,000,  has  been  able  on  account  of  this  revenue  to 
dispense  with  the  usual  borough  rate.2  Glasgow  has  an 
income  from  real  property  of  $270,000,  and  Birmingham, 
$300,000,  part  of  which  is  from  property  secured  in  con- 
nection with  improvement  schemes  during  the  last  thirty 
years.  In  the  United  States  municipal  lands  are  now  almost 
unknown.  New  York  and  Albany,  by  their  colonial  char- 
ters, owned  large  tracts  of  land,  but  these  have  long  since 
been  sold. 

Similar  in  character  to  these  public  lands  may  be  men- 
tioned the  modern  investments  of  sinking  funds  in  all  cities, 
to  provide  for  the  redemption  of  loans.  These  are,  however, 
temporary  investments,  and  the  income  is  not  used  for  the 
active  work  of  the  city. 

The  revenue  from  municipal  franchises  is  also  of  the  same 
general  nature  as  receipts  from  municipal  property.  These 
are  payments  from  various  companies,  notably  street  railway 
corporations  and  gas  companies,  for  the  privilege  of  using 
the  public  streets..  These  are  based  on  contracts  between 
the  companies  and  the  municipal  authorities,  and  should  be 
distinguished  from  charges  based  on  the  exercise  of  the 
power  of  taxation.  Such  contracts,  too,  usually  have  stipu- 
lations as  to  the  rates  to  be  charged  and  the  services  to 
be  furnished  by  the  companies,  as  well  as  the  payments  to 
the  city;  and  such  stipulations  in  the  interest  of  the  gen- 
eral public  may  be  preferred  to  larger  payments  into  the 

1  Paul-Dubois,  Essai  sur  les  finances  communales,  p.  142. 

2  But  this  does  not  mean  exemption  from  local  taxation.     The  poor  rate, 
and  probably  also  the  urban  district  rate,  was  levied. 


MUNICIPAL  REVENUES  337 

municipal  treasury.  In  point  of  fact  the  stricter  stipulations 
are  generally  found  in  conjunction  with  large  contributions 
by  the  companies  to  the  municipal  revenue ;  and  strict  con- 
tracts providing  for  both  are  the  rule  in  British  and  German 
cities.  In  the  United  States  the  grants  to  such  companies 
have  been  very  loosely  drawn,  and  only  a  very  few  cities 
receive  any  considerable  income  for  franchise  privileges. 
The  American  cities  which  receive  the  largest  income  of  this 
kind  are  Chicago,  with  a  franchise  revenue  of  $416,474  in 
1899;  Baltimore,  with  $283,049;  and  Louisville,  with 
$137,416. 

Another  form  of  commercial  revenue,  which  is  by  far  the 
most  important  in  the  large  urban  communities,  is  that  de- 
rived from  certain  public  works  and  undertakings  of  the 
modern  city,  such  as  waterworks,  gasworks,  markets,  docks, 
and  wharves.  These  are  especially  prominent  in  the  British 
and  German  cities,  which  have  entered  so  largely  on  func- 
tions of  this  character.  In  these  countries  this  revenue 
forms  a  very  large  share  of  the  aggregate  income  of  the  im- 
portant cities.  In  England  and  Wales,  this  revenue,  for  the 
year  ended  March  31,  1898,  amounted  to  £11,750,000,  out 
of  a  total  ordinary  income  of  £69,000,000,  or  one-sixth  of 
the  whole.  In  Berlin  revenues  of  this  sort  amounted  to 
$9,000,000,  30  per  cent  of  the  entire  municipal  income ; 
in  Paris  $14,000,000,  22  per  cent  of  the  total;  and  in 
New  York,  $14,500,000,  16  per  cent  of  the  total.  In  most 
American  cities  revenue  of  this  kind  is  almost  insignificant. 
The  census  figures  for  1890  show  that  the  aggregate  for 
cities  of  over  4000  population  was  only  2  per  cent  of  the 
total  ordinary  income  of  these  cities.  The  great  bulk  of 
this  revenue  goes  to  meet  the  special  expenses  of  the 
undertakings  from  which  it  was  derived  ;  but  in  some 
cases  there  is  a  net  profit,  which  is  applied  to  lighten  the 
burdens  of  local  taxation.  The  following  tables  show  the 
results  in  England  and  Wales  for  the  five  years  ended 
March  31,  1898,  with  the  latest  figures  for  Germany  and  the 
United  States  :  — 


338  MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

COMMERCIAL  UNDERTAKINGS:  ENGLISH  TO  WNS  — 1893-1898  * 


Utilities 

Average 
Annual 
Income 

Average 
Working 
Expenses 

Average 
Amount  for 
Interest, 
Repayment  of 
Loans,  etc. 

Net 

Balance 

£2  644  937 

£     902  612 

£1  714  533 

£  27  792 

Gasworks                    •          • 

4  517  126 

3  336  918 

809  868 

370  340 

Street  Railways     .... 
Electric  Lighting   .... 
Markets   

435,942 
304,499 
454  304 

302,670 
168,755 
204  826 

99,193 
130,406 
156  141 

34,079 
5,338 
93  337 

Baths  and  Wash-houses  .     . 
Cemeteries    ...          . 

99,256 
69  418 

119,414 
61  808 

49,097 
37  567 

69,255 
29  957 

Working  Class  Dwellings    . 
Wharves  and  Docks  .     .     . 
Miscellaneous    

12,514 
324,780 
35,610 

3,842 
197,495 
21,257 

21,837 
189,087 
709 

13,165 
61,802 
13,644 

Total  

£8  898  376 

£5  319  597 

£3  208  438 

£370  341 

COMMERCIAL  INCOME  :    GERMAN  CITIES  — 1897-1898  * 


Utilities 

Berlin 

Munich 

Leipzig 

Dresden 

Waterworks  

$1,930,000 

$337,000 

$310,000 

$324,000 

Gasworks                      . 

3  898  000 

706  000 

890  000 

Electric  Light  Works  .     . 
Street  Railways  .... 
Markets          .     .               . 

166,000 
360,000 
1  225  000 

113,000 
140,000 
480  000 

11,000 
415  000 

80,000 
65  000 

484  000 

225,000 

130,000 

206,000 

587,000 

35,000 

245,000 

205,000 

Other    

450,000 

280,000 

260,000 

230,000 

Commercial  Income     .     . 
Special  Assessments    .     . 

$9,100,000 
1,800,000 

$1,410,000 
510,000 

$2,077,000 
250,000 

$2,000,000 
590,000 

Total    

$10,900,000 

$1,920,000 

$2,327,000 

$2,590,000 

COMMERCIAL  INCOME:    UNITED   STATES   CITIES— 1890 


Utilities 

Cities  over 
60,000 

Cities  4000  to 
50,000 

Total 

$    4,270,006 

$     956,706 

$    5,226,712 

Special  Assessments     .... 
Total  Ordinary  Income     .     .     . 
State  and  County  Taxes    .     .     . 

16,704,516 
186,916,541 
5,056,458 

4,839,133 
64,694,911 
3,024,153 

21,543,649 
251,611,452 
8,080,611 

1  Return  to  House  of  Commons,  March  9,  1899,  in  Journal  of  Royal  Sta- 
tistical Society,  Vol.  63,  p.  407. 

8  Statistisches  Jahrbuch  Deutscher  Stadte,  VIII,  205. 


MUNICIPAL   REVENUES  339 


SUBVENTIONS 

Government  subventions  form  a  source  of  municipal  reve- 
nue almost  unknown  a  half-century  ago,  but  now  a  striking 
feature  in  the  municipal  budgets  of  the  European  cities. 
They  may  be  divided  into  two  classes  :  special  subsidies  and 
general  grants  —  the  former  being  for  certain  special  pur- 
poses to  which  their  use  is  limited,  while  the  latter  are  a 
fixed  share  of  certain  revenues  collected  by  the  general 
government,  which  are  available  for  the  general  purposes 
of  the  municipalities. 

The  special  subsidies  have  arisen  in  connection  with  laws 
compelling  the  municipalities  to  perform  certain  functions 
of  a  general  as  well  as  of  local  interest,  —  such  as  education, 
poor  relief,  police,  and  main  roads.  State  aid  in  these  direc- 
tions has  been  necessary  to  secure  the  desired  local  action, 
and  the  State  grants  have  been  subject  to  their  use  for  the 
purposes  named.  These  special  subsidies  had  their  origin  in 
Great  Britain  in  the  "  grants  in  aid,"  first  authorized  in  1833 
for  the  development  of  schools.  Similar  subsidies  followed 
for  the  police,  poor  relief,  and  other  lines  of  activity  x  until 
in  1888  the  aggregate  of  these  subsidies  was  over  $24,000,000. 
In  1888  fixed  general  grants  were  substituted  for  a  large 
part  of  the  special  subsidies,  although  the  latter  remain  for 
some  purposes,  such  as  schools  and  police.  France  also  has 
developed  an  elaborate  system  of  special  subsidies,  for  which 
has  been  substituted  in  the  case  of  primary  education  the 
direct  assumption  by  the  State  of  part  of  the  expenses.  In 
Prussia  there  are  considerable  grants  to  the  municipal  au- 
thorities. The  local  roads,  formerly  aided  by  the  State,  have 
since  1875  received  subsidies  from  the  provinces  and  circles. 
Under  recent  laws  the  State  pays  the  salaries  and  pensions 
of  teachers  in  the  elementary  schools.  In  Belgium  both  the 
State  and  the  provinces  give  grants  in  aid  of  roads  and  ele- 
mentary education.  Less  is  done  along  this  line  in  Italy 
than  in  any  other  country  of  Europe,  the  grants  for  element- 
ary schools  and  roads  amounting  to  less  than  $2,500,000. 

In  the  United  States  there  are  large  grants  by  the  state 


840  MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

governments  for  the  support  of  the  common  schools,  and  in 
New  Jersey,  Massachusetts,  and  New  York,  there  are  sub- 
sidies for  roads.  The  aggregate  of  state  funds  given  to  the 
local  school  authorities  for  1889  amounted  to  132,812,483, 
and  the  average  for  the  ten  years  then  ended  was  $26,649,509. 
The  states  which  gave  the  largest  proportionate  grants,  with 
the  amounts  for  1889,  were  :  California,  $2,655,089 ;  New 
Jersey,  $2,307,314  ;  Massachusetts,  $2,947,299  ;  and  Indiana, 
$2,017,273.  Most  of  the  states  have  school  funds  derived 
mainly  from  the  sale  of  public  lands,  and  some  part  of  the 
school  grants  comes  from  the  income  of  these  funds.  The 
greater  part,  however,  comes  from  state  taxation,  and  under 
the  existing  method  of  taxation  the  cities  pay  a  larger  share 
of  the  tax  than  they  receive  as  school  grants,  so  that  the 
subsidies  are  a  positive  aid  only  to  the  rural  districts. 

The  system  of  general  grants  is  much  less  used  than  that  of 
special  subsidies,  and  they  are  of  importance  only  in  Great 
Britain  and  Belgium.  In  Belgium  the  general  grants  from 
national  revenues  were  established  in  1860  to  compensate  the 
comnyines  for  the  loss  of  the  octrois,  or  local  customs  duties, 
which  were  then  abolished.  A  fund  was  established,  to  consist 
of  75  per  cent  of  the  customs  duties  on  coffee,  35  per  cent  of 
the  customs  and  35  per  cent  of  the  excise  on  spirits,  beers, 
and  wines,  and  41  per  cent  of  the  postal  taxes  —  the  reve- 
nue being  distributed  among  all  the  communes  in  propor- 
tion to  the  amount  of  their  local  taxes.  In  1889  another 
communal  fund  was  provided,  consisting  of  the  revenue  from 
new  liquor  saloons  (debits),  and  the  customs  on  cattle  and 
meat.  The  communal  receipts  from  these  funds  is  about  30 
per  cent  of  their  total  ordinary  receipts. 

In  Great  Britain  the  system  of  general  grants  was  estab^ 
lished  in  1888,  replacing  former  special  subsidies,  by  assign, 
ing  to  the  local  authorities  the  whole  or  part  of  the  revenue 
from  certain  succession  duties  (inheritance  taxes),  license 
taxes,  and  four-tenths  of  the  probate  duties,  to  which  was 
added  in  1891  additional  revenues  from  duties  on  beer  and 
spirits.  The  income  from  these  local  taxation  licenses  is 


MUNICIPAL  REVENUES  341 

nearly  stationary  and  does  not  tend  to  increase  with  the 
growth  of  local  expenditure.  The  revenue  from  both  classes 
of  government  grants  in  Great  Britain  is  about  £11,000,000, 
which  is  15  per  cent  of  the  total  ordinary  local  revenue, 
excluding  loans. 

THE  FISCAL  SYSTEMS 

The  most  important  source  of  municipal  revenue  in  coun- 
tries having  a  large  urban  population  is  the  local  taxes ; 
and  as  these  are  based  on  different  principles  in  the  different 
countries,  it  is  necessary  to  note  the  systems  of  the  principal 
countries  with  some  care. 

France 

There  are  three  main  divisions  in  the  local  taxation 
scheme  in  France  :  the  centimes  additionels,  the  octrois,  and 
the  special  taxes.  The  centimes  additionels,  which  date 
from  the  Revolution,  are  additions  to  the  four  direct 
State  taxes  on  lands  and  buildings,  personal  property  ^ 
doors  and  windows,  and  trades.  When  the  State  taxes 
are  apportioned,  each  commune  ascertains  the  rate  (ex- 
pressed in  centimes)  necessary  to  raise  its  share  of  the 
State  revenues  ;  and  to  this  is  added  a  sufficient  additional 
rate  (centimes  additionels)  to  secure  the  revenue  for  the 
local  purposes.  The  entire  amount  for  both  State  and 
local  purposes  is  collected  together,  and  the  commune  receives 
for  its  own  use  the  receipts  from  the  centimes  additionels. 
The  octrois  are  duties  levied  at  the  city  gates  on  articles  of 
consumption  —  principally  food  supplies  and  drink.  They 
appeared  somewhat  later  than  the  centimes  additionels,  and 
have  developed  to  a  marked  degree,  especially  in  the  larger 
cities.  In  1823,  1434  communes  had  octrois,  and  1501  in 
1899,  but  the  increase  in  urban  population  in  that  period 
doubled  the  population  subject  to  octrois.  About  half  of 
the  octrois  revenue  is  from  liquors,  and  of  the  liquor  revenue, 
three-fourths  comes  from  wines  and  beers ;  bread  is  always 
free,  but  there  are  taxes  on  meat,  eggs,  and  fuel.  Of  the 
special  revenues,  the  most  important  are  those  called  presta- 


342 


MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 


tions,  which  are  of  especial  significance  in  the  rural  communes. 
They  are  levied  on  landowners  and  active  capitalists,  espe- 
cially on  those  engaged  in  trades  which  make  use  of  the  roads. 
They  are  based  on  the  number  of  men  and  carts  employed, 
and  are,  in  fact,  a  kind  of  special  assessment  for  the  construc- 
tion and  maintenance  of  the  local  roads.  Special  assess- 
ments are,  however,  but  slightly  used  in  the  French  cities ; 
there  are  some  such  in  Paris  for  street  cleaning,  and  they 
are  authorized  for  paving,  but  are  very  rarely  resorted  to. 
The  other  special  revenues  are  the  tax  on  dogs,  and  commer- 
cial income  from  the  public  domain,  markets,  abattoirs,  and 
stands  in  the  public  ways. 

As  to  the  relative  importance  of  these  divisions  of  reve- 
nue, if  Paris  be  excluded,  each  division  furnishes  roughly 
one-third  of  the  total  revenue.  Including  Paris,  however, 
the  aggregate  income  from  octrois  is  nearly  one-half  of  the 
total  local  taxes.  If  again  the  rural  communes  be  excluded, 
the  special  revenues  become  of  much  less  importance. 

MUNICIPAL  REVENUE:    ALL  FRANCE 


Source 

18T7 

1899 

francs 
138,264,271 

francs 
192,798,787 

Attributions       .... 

10,528,685 

7,000,000 

Octrois  

252,124,908 

322,918,560 

54,870,000 

60,000,000 

Various     

94,320,818 

181,164,940 

Total     

650,098,682  l 

763,882,287 

MUNICIPAL  REVENUE:    FRANCE,  EXCLUDING  PARIS 


Source 

18TT 

1899 

francs 
116,082,000 

francs 
161,551,807 

Attributions  ..... 

8,687,000 

5,000,000 

Octrois  
Prestations    

124,571,000 
64,870,000 

165,108,544 
60,000,000 

68,482,000 

67,849,267 

Total     

372,692,000 

469,609,618 

82  per  cent  of  total  local  receipts. 


MUNICIPAL  REVENUES 


343 


In  the  larger  cities  the  octrois  form  the  principal  source 
of  revenue,  while  the  commercial  income  is  also  of  increased 
importance.  The  following  table  shows  the  leading  items  of 
municipal  revenue  for  Paris,  Lyons,  and  Marseilles  in  1898, 
and  also  the  amount  raised  for  the  State  and  department 
treasuries :  — 

REVENUES  OF  FRENCH  CITIES  — 18981 


Items 

Paris 

Lyons 

Marseilles 

State  Direct  Taxes   .... 
Department  Taxes   .... 

francs 
20,487,873 
24,047,402 

francs 
2,171,020 
3,199,867 

francs 
2,070,860 
3,863,202 

Municipal  Taxes  : 
Centimes  additionels  .    .    . 

32,636,456 
165,825,818 

3,017,782 
10,230,000 

2,806,064 
11,561,000 

Commercial  Revenue    .    .    . 
State  Subventions     .... 
Sundry 

67,964,224 
15,965,585  •» 
26,672,331  J 

4,243,000 
993,817 

4,771,434 
4,351,660 

Total  Municipal  Revenue  . 

298,854,414 

18,384,699 

23,790,048 

The  octrois  are  the  most  burdensome  of  the  French  munic- 
ipal taxes.  They  are,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  expensive 
to  collect,  the  cost  of  administration  running  from  10  per 
cent  to  as  high  as  20  per  cent  of  the  income.  For  these  rea- 
sons there  has  been  a  strong  agitation  for  the  abolition  of 
the  octrois,  and,  in  a  few  cases,  this  has  been  accomplished. 
At  the  beginning  of  1901,  some  radical  changes  in  the 
Paris  system  have  taken  place,  involving  a  net  reduction 
of  45,000,000  francs  in  the  octrois  receipts.  The  duties  on 
wine,  beer,  and  other  light  beverages  have  been  abolished. 
The  rates  on  spirits  and  strong  liquors  have  been  somewhat 
increased,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  revenue  is  made  good 
by  new  taxes  on  rents,  carriages,  and  a  succession  duty. 

Italy 

In  Italy  the   main   local  taxes  are   similar   to  those   in 
France :  centimes  additionels  and  octrois,  with  a  grant  from 
1  G.  Cadoux,  Les  Finances  de  la  ville  de  Paris,  237,  682,  683,  695. 


344  MUNICIPAL   FINANCES 

the  State  (10  per  cent  of  the  tax  on  movable  wealth)  and  a 
great  variety  of  local  special  taxes.  The  State,  however, 
allows  the  communes  to  add  the  local  centimes  only  on  the 
real  estate  and  house  valuations,  and  the  concentration  on 
this  class  of  property,  added  to  the  unequal  distribution  of 
the  national  taxes,  makes  the  burden  a  very  serious  one. 
The  principal  special  taxes  are  those  on  family  wealth,  on 
rental  value,  and  on  agricultural  animals.  The  first  is  used 
in  5000  communes  out  of  the  8259  in  the  country,  and  the 
second  in  700 ;  but  the  revenue  received  is  not  of  large 
amount.  The  principal  source  of  local  revenue  is  the 
octrois,  or  dazi  di  consumo,  yielding  44  per  cent  of  the 
communal  taxes.  The  revenue  from  this  source  increased 
69  per  cent  between  1875  and  1889,  while  the  income  from 
the  centimes  additionels  increased  but  18  per  cent.  The 
octrois,  or  dazi,  are  of  most  importance  in  the  large  cities,  but 
they  are  to  be  found  in  86  per  cent  of  the  communes  (in 
7163  out  of  the  8259).  The  communal  octrois  are,  moreover, 
levied  in  addition  to  government  octrois.  There  are,  also, 
in  Italy,  communal  license  taxes  on  business  houses  and  pro- 
fessions, and  on  inns  and  liquor  shops,  together  with  several 
other  license  taxes  of  less  value.  Special  assessments  are 
allowed,  but  are  not  frequently  resorted  to.  The  mass  of 
different  varieties  of  taxes,  none  of  which  yields  much,  while 
each  involves  an  added  expense  for  its  collection  and  admin- 
istration, produces  much  annoyance,  and  the  difficulty  of 
securing  funds  prevents  the  Italian  cities  from  entering  on 
many  lines  of  activity. 

MUNICIPAL  TAXATION:   ITALY  — 18891 


Centimes  additionels    .... 

122,724,068  francs 
31,940,413       " 

Octrois    

146,851,233       " 

Sumptuary  taxes     

5,869,802       " 

6,597,621       " 

Special  taxes    

10,948,222       " 

Total 

324,931,361  francs 

1  Paul-Dubois,  Essai  sur  les  finances  communales,  p.  177. 


MUNICIPAL  REVENUES  345 

Belgium 

The  local  taxes  in  Belgian  cities  are  a  much  less  impor- 
tant part  of  the  municipal  revenue  than  in  any  other  country, 
due  in  the  main  to  the  system  of  government  grants  in  lieu 
of  the  former  octrois  duties.  Only  about  27  per  cent  of  the 
ordinary  receipts  is  from  local  taxes.  Of  this  27  per  cent 
revenue,  nearly  half  (47  per  cent)  is  from  centimes  addition- 
els,  as  in  France,  but  the  average  rate  is  only  26  centimes, 
as  compared  with  46  centimes  in  France  and  67  in  Italy. 
The  remaining  revenue  derived  from  direct  local  taxes 
comes  from  a  variety  of  sources :  personal  taxes  assessed  on 
various  principles,  taxes  on  mines,  factories,  professions,  and 
many  others,  no  one  of  which  is  of  marked  importance. 
The  system  of  prestations  is  used  largely  by  the  Belgian  rural 
communes,  as  in  France  ;  for  example,  there  is  a  labor  tax, 
or  special  assessment  on  landowners  or  proprietors  of  indus- 
tries which  damage  roads.  Furthermore,  the  Belgian  cities 
apply  the  same  principle  (as  the  French  cities  do  not)  in  the 
construction  and  maintenance  of  public  works,  such  as  streets, 
sidewalks,  and  sewers,  which  are  paid  for  in  part  by  special 
assessments  on  the  owners  of  property  adjacent  to  the  im- 
provement. Thus,  in  Brussels,  the  tax  for  improvements  is 
doubled  in  new  streets,  and  increased  by  one-half  in  streets 
which  undergo  enlargement. 

Germany 

There  is  no  uniform  system  of  municipal  taxation  in  the 
German  cities,  partly  on  account  of  different  systems  of  gen- 
eral taxation  in  the  several  states,  but  partly  also  on  account 
of  a  larger  freedom  left  to  the  localities,  especially  in  Prus- 
sia. A  law  passed  in  1893  attempted  to  provide  a  more  gen- 
eral system  in  Prussia,  and  particularly  to  limit  the  use  of 
the  income  tax  for  municipal  revenue.  The  State  abolished 
its  trade  and  property  taxes,  expecting  such  taxes  to  become 
the  principal  sources  of  municipal  revenue  ;  but  as  munici- 
pal taxes  then  existing  were  allowed  to  remain,  the  charac- 
teristic diversity  between  different  cities  still  continues. 


346 


MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 


Considerable  municipal  revenue  is  now  secured  by  taxes 
on  property  ;  and  some  by  taxes  on  trades  ;  but  the  most 
striking  feature  of  the  municipal  taxes  in  Prussia  (and  the 
same  is  true  of  cities  in  other  parts  of  Germany)  is  still  the 
large  share  of  revenue  raised  by  the  tax  on  incomes.  Among 
the  Prussian  cities  the  income  tax  generally  produces  as  much 
as  40  per  cent  of  the  total  tax  revenue  ;  and  in  Saxony  it 
is  sometimes  over  60  per  cent.  In  Bavaria  there  is  no  general 
income  tax,  and  the  special  income  taxes  yield  a  much 
smaller,  though  still  noticeable,  share  of  municipal  revenue. 

Taxes  on  consumption,  corresponding  to  the  French  octrois, 
are  also  found  in  Germany.  In  Alsace-Lorraine  these  duties 
have  equal  importance  with  the  octrois  in  French  cities  ;  and 
in  the  cities  of  Munich,  Breslau,  Dresden,  Mainz,  and  Darm- 
stadt, they  furnish  from  20  to  30  per  cent  of  the  revenue  de- 
rived from  taxation.  Elsewhere  taxes  on  consumption  are 
generally  of  much  less  importance.  At  Berlin  the  octrois 
income  is  only  770,000  marks,  or  1.5  per  cent  of  the  total  tax 
revenue  ;  at  Leipzig  they  have  been  entirely  abolished  ;  at 
Cologne  they  yield  360,000  marks,  or  less  than  5  per  cent  of 
the  tax  revenue  ;  and  at  Frankfort,  88,000  marks,  less  than 
1  per  cent. 

MUNICIPAL  TAXATION:  PRUSSIA  1 
(1169  cities) 


Items 

1894-1  895 

Per  Cent 

1895-1896 

Per  Cent 

Income  taxes  .... 
Trade  taxes     .... 
Property  taxes     .     .    . 
Octrois,  Gebuhren,  etc. 

marks 
142,559,246 
4,262,437  \ 
23,523,740  / 
35,631,971 

69.2 

13.6 
17.2 

marks 
104,715,611 
23,396,430  \ 
58,949,259  / 
49,638,212 

44.2 

34.8 
21. 

Total 

205,967,394 

236,699,512 

STATE   TAXES:  PRUSSIA 


Erganzungsteuer 

33,047,000 

10.2 

Income  taxes   . 

86,531,970 

24.9 

122,752,154 

39.1 

Property  taxes 

80,416,968 

23.1 

Trade  taxes      . 

26,354,759 

7.3 

Indirect  taxes  . 

71,603,252 

20.6 

69,885,008 

22.3 

Total2  

348,678,915 

314,048,868 

1  Statistisches  Handbuch  fur  den  Preussischen  Staat,  III. 

2  Including  other  revenue  received  by  the  Ministry  of  Finance  ;  but  ex- 
cluding the  revenue  from  railroads,  public  works,  and  other  departments. 


MUNICIPAL  REVENUES  347 

MUNICIPAL  TAXATION:    GERMAN  CITIES  — 1897-1898 * 


Items 

Berlin 

Munich 

Leipzig 

Dresden 

Breslau 

marks 

marks 

marks 

marks 

marks 

Imperial  taxes  .    . 

30,892,721 

843,424 

2,391,387 

4,480,296 

10,207,151 

State  taxes  : 

Indirect     .    .    . 

9,098,838 

9,967,356 

1,383,084 

757,938 

1,260,610 

Property    .    .    . 

3,262,804 

749,333 

477,363 

Income  .... 

23,710,710 

585,928 

5,942,525 

5,815,177 

3,290,281 

Municipal  taxes  : 

Property    .    .    . 

16,808,403 

2,144,372 

1,587,415 

715,411 

2,088,507 

Trade    .    .    *    . 

7,236,460 

1,427,956 

945,639 

Income.    .    .    . 

23,958,667 

1,969,433 

6,479,684 

5,141,694 

4,090,883 

Octrois  .... 

774,237 

2,343,684 

1,918,181 

2,172,703 

Total*    .    .    . 

51,076,913 

9,157,986 

8,946,349 

9,805,198 

9,848,946 

Special  assessments 

7,200,000 

2,000,000 

1,000,000 

2,000,000 

Commercial  revenue 

36,400,000 

5,600,000 

8,000,000 

8,000,000 

England 

The  English  system  of  local  taxation  is  radically  different 
from  that  in  the  continental  countries.  In  the  first  place, 
trade  taxes  and  octrois  may  be  said  not  to  exist,  and 
all  of  the  local  taxation  is  raised  by  assessments  on  real 
property,  including  in  that  term  both  lands  and  buildings. 
In  the  second  place,  the  taxes  so  levied  are  assessed  by  an 
entirely  different  method  from  that  employed  in  assessing 
property  taxes  in  other  countries,  being  based,  not  on  the  cap- 
ital value  of  the  property,  but  on  the  annual  rental  value. 
In  the  third  place,  these  taxes  on  the  rental  value  of  prop- 
erty are  entirely  local,  and  wholly  independent  and  distinct 
from  the  taxes  levied  for  the  national  government.  The  dif- 
ferentiation is  so  marked  that  the  local  taxes  are  not  called 
taxes,  but  rates,  while  the  former  term  is  limited  in  its  ap- 
plication to  taxation  for  the  national  exchequer. 

While,  however,  there  is  but  one  system  of  local  taxation, 
so  far  as  the  subject  of  taxation  is  concerned,  the  English 


1  Statistisches  Jahrbuch  Deutscher  Stadte,  VIII. 
3  Including  sundry  minor  taxes. 


348  MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

system  again  differs  from  that  on  the  continent  of  Europe  in 
having  a  large  variety  of  distinct  levies  made  on  this  single 
basis,  for  different  purposes  of  local  government.  To  a  large 
extent  these  different  levies  or  rates  are  made  by  different 
local  authorities,  but  there  are  also  cases  in  which  a  single 
authority  levies  more  than  one  rate.  The  study  of  English 
local  taxation  is  thus  a  study  of  the  various  rates.  As 
usual  in  English  matters,  this  demands  some  historical 
discussion  of  the  development  of  the  existing  system,  which 
is  all  the  more  important  for  us  because  the  early  stages 
are  steps  in  the  development  of  the  American  system  of 
taxation. 

At  present,  the  various  local  rates  are  all  based  on  the  poor 
rate,  which  was  definitely  established  in  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth. There  were,  of  course,  local  taxes  before  that  time ; 
"  scot  "  and  "  lot "  were  collected  in  the  boroughs  of  the  later 
Saxon  and  early  Norman  reigns  ;  and  later  came  the  firma 
burgi.  Church  rates  have  been  traced  back  to  1189,1  and 
were  well  established  by  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  Sewer  rates  for  drainage  improvements  were 
levied  in  money  by  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century.2 
Paving  rates  had  begun  by  1477.  During  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries  other  rates  were  authorized  by  special 
acts  of  Parliament. 

The  earliest  methods  of  assessment  seem  to  have  been  to 
determine  in  a  rough  and  ready  way  the  amount  which  each 
person  had  to  pay ;  and  while  a  man's  property  would  be 
taken  into  account,  apparently  no  systematic  valuations  were 
made.  The  early  poor  laws  provided  at  first  for  voluntary 
alms  ;  later  statutes  authorized  the  assessment  of  those  who 
refused  to  give  voluntarily ;  but  even  in  the  act  of  1572,  au- 
thorizing a  systematic  tax  for  poor  relief,  there  were  no  rules 
in  regard  to  the  method  of  assessment.  The  statute  of  1597 
provided  for  the  taxation  "  of  every  inhabitant  and  every 
occupier  of  lands " ;  and  in  1633  it  was  definitely  decided 


1  C.  H.  Blunden,  Local  Taxation  and  Finance,  p.  2. 

2  Edwin  Cannan,  History  of  Local  Rates  in  England,  p.  12. 


MUNICIPAL  REVENUES  349 

that  a  non-resident  should  not  be  assessed  for  the  poor  rate 
in  respect  to  rents  for  lands  in  the  parish,  the  occupier  of 
which  was  assessed.  Under  the  Commonwealth  there  is  evi- 
dence of  a  general  adoption  of  rents  as  the  basis  of  assess- 
ment. Whether  or  not  movable  property  should  be  included 
in  addition  to  rental  value  was  not  definitely  decided  until 
1840.  In  most  places  there  seems  to  have  been  little  or  no 
assessment  in  respect  to  movable  property  ;  but  in  the  older 
manufacturing  districts,  stock  in  trade  of  business  houses  was 
assessed  in  some  parishes.  A  decision  of  the  Court  of  Queen's 
Bench  in  1840  led  to  a  circular  letter  of  the  Poor  Law  Com- 
missioners ordering  stock  in  trade  to  be  assessed  everywhere  ; 
but  this  action  led  to  the  prompt  passage  of  a  statute  forbid- 
ding this.  Thus  the  rates  at  present  are  confined  to  the 
rental  value  of  lands  and  buildings. 

Local  taxes  existing  before  the  poor  rate  have  either  disap- 
peared, or  have  become  merged  in  some  of  the  later  rates, 
while  these  latter  have  been  imposed  as  additions  to  the  poor 
rate,  based  on  the  poor  rate  assessment.  Highway  rates  on 
this  basis  were  first  authorized  by  statute  in  1691.  In  the 
first  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  several  minor  rates  were 
established,  which  have  been  merged  in  the  county  rate. 
The  borough  rate  and  borough  watch  rate  were  established 
in  1835.  Special  rates  for  local  improvements  in  particular 
communities  had  also  been  authorized  from  time  to  time ; 
and  the  Public  Health  Act  of  1848  empowered  any  urban 
district  to  levy  a  general  district  rate  for  the  purposes  author- 
ized in  the  statute.  In  1870  the  school  rate  was  established 
in  connection  with  the  elementary  school  system  inaugurated 
at  that  time. 

Of  the  variety  of  rates  now  in  use,  many  are  not  only 
based  on  the  poor  rate,  but  are  assessed  and  collected  with  the 
poor  rate,  under  the  term  of  precept  rates.  Thus  the  county 
rate,  the  borough  rate,  the  school  board  rate,  the  burial  board 
rate,  and  the  rural  sanitary  rate  are  usually  levied  as  precept 
rates.  By  far  the  most  important  rate  collected  indepen- 
dently of  the  poor  rate  is  the  general  district  rate,  levied  by 
the  urban  district  authorities,  for  sanitary  and  other  urban 


350  MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

improvements.  There  also  appears  a  "  private  improvement 
rate,"  which  is  not  a  general  tax,  but  a  special  assessment  for 
such  improvements  as  water  supply,  drainage,  and  paving,  in 
a  newly  built  district,  levied  only  on  the  property  directly 
benefited. 

In  determining  the  valuations  for  the  local  rates  in  Eng- 
land, there  is  first  determined  the  "  gross  estimated  rental," 
based  on  the  yearly  rent  a  tenant  would  pay,  who  was  required 
to  pay  the  tithes  and  the  usual  tenant's  taxes.  From  this  a 
deduction  is  made  to  cover  the  average  expense  for  repairs, 
insurance,  and  renewals ;  and  the  balance  is  the  "  ratable 
value."  In  the  case  of  railways,  gasworks,  mines,  and  other 
monopolies,  the  valuation  includes  the  enhanced  value  due 
to  the  monopoly  character.  With  the  total  ratable  value 
for  a  given  parish,  and  the  amount  to  be  raised  by  rates,  the 
amount  of  tax  for  each  pound  of  ratable  value  is  readily 
determined ;  and  this  is  known  as  the  rate.  In  large  cities 
this  varies  from  five  to  eight  shillings  in  the  pound.  Rates 
for  certain  purposes  are  levied  only  on  a  fractional  value. 
Watching  and  lighting  rates  when  levied  in  respect  to  lands 
and  tithes  are  chargeable  only  on  one-third  of  the  full  rate ; 
sanitary  rates  in  urban  districts  in  respect  to  agricultural 
lands,  tithes,  railways,  docks,  and  canals,  are  chargeable  on 
one-fourth  of  the  ratable  value.  In  other  respects  the 
assessment  system  is  inadequate.  Except  in  the  metropolis, 
no  statutory  provision  requires  a  periodic  revaluation  of 
properties,  and  there  is  no  uniformity  in  the  scales  of  deduc- 
tions from  the  gross  rentals.  Outside  of  London,  the  aggre- 
gate rental  value  for  local  rates  is  much  smaller  than  the 
value  determined  by  the  officials  of  the  national  government 
for  the  income  tax  assessments.  Lands  not  yielding  rent  are 
exempt  from  local  rates.  Moreover,  the  imposition  of  the 
tax  directly  on  the  occupiers  imposes  a  large  burden  on  the 
laboring  and  artisan  classes,  who  must  spend  a  large  share  of 
their  income  on  house-rent. 

The  proportions  of  the  total  annual  value  of  rated  prop- 
erty in  the  several  principal  classes,  in  certain  years  from 
1814  to  1890-1891,  were  as  follows  :  — 


MUNICIPAL   REVENUES 


351 


Items 

1814 

1843 

1868 

1890-1891 

Lands  and  tithes     . 
Houses  

69.28% 
27.84 

49.10% 
41.44 

33.20% 
47.27 

19.24% 
56.36 

Railways  .... 
Other  property  .     . 

2.88 

2.82 
6.64 

11.11 
8.42 

14.02 
10.39 

These  local  rates  yield  about  60  per  cent  of  the  total  revenue 
of  the  English  local  authorities.  As  has  been  noted,  the 
government  subventions  amount  to  15  per  cent,  and  the 
income  from  rents  and  industrial  enterprises  to  18  per  cent. 
There  is  also  a  small  proportion  received  from  tolls,  dues, 
fees,  fines,  and  licenses. 


CLASSIFIED  RECEIPTS  OF  LOCAL  AUTHORITIES 
IN  ENGLAND  AND   WALES 

(Exclusive  of  loans) 


Items 

1890-1891 

1897-1898 

Public  Rates    ... 

£27,818,642 

£37,605,368 

Treasury  Subventions    ...                   ... 

1  696  340 

4,820,810 

5,484  670 

6  147,948 

Tolls,  Dues,  and  Duties     

3,473,876 

3,741,019 

Real  and  Funded  Property     

1,438,113 

1,765,084 

303,104 

795,945 

Fees,  Fines,  Penalties,  and  Licenses    .... 

1,250,464 
2,608,928 

763,435 
3,292,098 

4,227,021 

5,091,467 

1,001,384 

2,225,714 

789,694 

1,223,177 

Other  Receipts     

1,345,189 

1,672,478 

Totals      

£61,437,425 

£69,144,543 

United  States 

In  the  United  States  the  most  general  form  of  munici- 
pal taxation  is  the  general  property  tax,  which  is  an  evolu- 
tion from  the  English  poor  rate.  The  main  differences 


352  MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

between  the  two  are  that  in  America  the  attempt  is  made 
to  reach  personal  property  as  well  as  real  estate,  and  that 
the  assessment  is  made  on  a  capital  valuation  and  not  on 
rental.  The  full  details  of  the  process  by  which  this  differ- 
entiation occurred  are  not  clear  ;  but  the  evidence  shows 
that  even  before  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  the 
main  features  of  the  present  system  were  in  operation  in 
America.  In  the  Massachusetts  tax  law  of  1634  we  find 
the  same  vague  terminology  as  in  the  English  statutes  of 
that  time.  "  In  all  rates  and  public  charges  the  town 
(through  their  assessors)  shall  have  respect  to  levy  every 
man  according  to  his  estate,  and  with  consideration  of 
all  other  his  abilities  whatsoever,  and  not  according  to  the 
number  of  his  persons."  Sixty  years  later,  another  Massa- 
chusetts tax  law  prescribes  methods  of  assessment  that  are 
almost  identical  with  the  present  system.  The  act  of  1697 
provides  for  the  preparation  of  a  tax  list,  to  show  "  What 
each  particular  person  is  to  pay  against  his  or  her  income 
respectively ;  the  first  column  to  contain  the  number  of  polls 
for  which  such  persQnjjfc  assessed,  and  the  sum  set  upon  each 
of  them,  —  the  second  column  to  contain  the  housing,  land, 
or  other  real  estate,  for  which  such  person  is  assessed,  and 
the  sum  set  thereupon,  and  the  third  column  to  contain  the 
sum  set  by  them  upon  such  person  for  his  or  her  personal 
estate  and  faculty." 

A  more  detailed  account  of  the  method  of  assessment  of 
local  taxes  is  found  in  the  Duke  of  York's  Laws,  which  were 
enacted  for  the  province  of  New  York  in  1665,  and  afterward 
were  extended  to  the  other  Middle  colonies. 

"  The  lands  and  estates  of  all  men  wherever  they  dwell  be 
rated  for  all  Toune  charges,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  where 
the  lands  and  estates  shall  lie,  and  their  persons  where  they 
dwell." 

"  The  overseers  .  .  .  shall  make  a  list  of  all  male  persons 
in  the  town  of  sixteen  years  old  and  upwards,  and  a  true  esti- 
mation of  all  personal  and  Real  estates,  being  or  reputed  to 
bee  the  estates  of  all  and  every  person  .  .  .  lands  of  all  sorts, 
.  .  .  mills,  ships,  and  all  small  vessels,  merchantable  goods, 


MUNICIPAL   REVENUES  353 

cranes,  wharves,  and  all  sorts  of  cattle,  and  all  other  known 
estate  whatsoever." 

Here  follows  a  table  of  rates  at  which  different  kinds  of 
animals  are  to  be  listed. 

"Every  one  shall  pay  their  rate  to  the  constable  of  the 
Toune  where  he  shall  be  assesed,  nor  shall  any  land  or  estate 
be  rated  in  any  other  toun,  but  where  the  same  shall  lie." 

We  see  in  these  provisions  the  differentiation  from  the 
present  system  of  English  rates  fully  accomplished.  Assess- 
ments are  made  not  on  rental,  but  on  capital  value,  and 
personal  property  is  also  included.  An  explanation  for 
these  differences  may  be  suggested  in  the  different  condi- 
tions of  land-holding  in  America  and  England.  In  England 
tenant  farming  was  prevalent,  and  the  rents  were  a  tangible 
fact  which  expressed  the  value  of  the  estate.  In  America 
there  were  few  rents  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  the  estate, 
and  the  capital  value,  which  could  be  ascertained  roughly  by 
actual  sales,  was  the  simplest  measure  of  value.  When  the 
assessment  came  to  be  based  on  capital  instead  of  rental  value, 
it  was  natural  to  include  the  value  of  personalty,  since  that, 
too,  could  be  readily  ascertained  under  the  rural  conditions 
of  the  time.  Nor  was  this  altogether  a  novel  feature,  for 
in  assessments  based  on  the  vague  notion  of  "  ability,"  some 
consideration  must  have  been  given  to  personal  property 
holdings. 

Another  distinguishing  feature  of  the  American  property 
tax  which  appeared  early  was  its  use  for  raising  revenue  for 
the  central  government  of  the  colony  as  well  as  for  local  pur- 
poses. This  was  done  in  Massachusetts  as  early  as  1634,  and 
in  New  York  in  1683. 

While  the  machinery  of  the  property  tax  was  thus  early 
developed,  the  amount  of  revenue  raised  by  it,  either  for  local 
or  general  purposes,  was  not  of  great  importance  during  the 
colonial  period,  or  even  before  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  As  late  as  1848  the  total  state  and  local  taxes  in 
New  York  were  only  $4,647,461.  But  the  large  development 
of  expenditures  after  1850  was  met  to  a  great  extent  by  means 
of  the  general  property  tax,  which  multiplied  itself  rapidly, 

2A 


354 


MUNICIPAL   FINANCES 


and  soon  became  the  dominant  and,  for  a  time,  the  only  im- 
portant form  of  direct  taxation  in  the  United  States.  In  this 
rapid  development  under  new  economic  conditions  there  arose 
many  serious  evils  in  the  application  of  the  tax.  The  use  of 
what  was  originally  a  local  tax  for  raising  a  considerable 
amount  of  state  revenue  tempted  the  local  assessors  to  under- 
value property  so  that  their  district  might  bear  a  smaller 
portion  of  the  state  tax;  and,  in  spite  of  state  boards  of 
equalization,  this  inequality  still  continues,  and  probably 
must  continue  under  any  system  of  local  assessment.  More 
significant  were  the  evils  in  connection  with  the  assessment 
of  personal  property.  New  forms  of  personal  property  could 
not  be  so  readily  assessed  as  the  chattels  of  an  agricultural 
community,  and  in  the  cities  the  personalty  assessments  have 
taxed  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  personalty.  The  principle 
of  the  property  tax  also  required  double  taxation  in  the  case 
of  mortgaged  property  and  property  held  by  corporations, 
while  in  the  case  of  railroads  and  other  corporations  operating 
over  an  extensive  area,  the  system  of  local  assessment  made 
impossible  any  adequate  valuations  of  the  property  as  a  whole. 
The  following  statistics  will  illustrate  some  of  these 
points :  — 

AD  VALOREM  TAXATION  IN  THE   UNITED   STATES 


Assessed  Valuation 

Year 

Ad  valorem 

Estimated  Tan- 

Taxation 

gible  Wealth 

Realty 

Personalty 

Total 

1850 

* 

3,889,226,347 

2,125,440,562 

6,024,666,909 

7,135,780,228 

1860 

94,186,746 

6,973,006,049 

5,111,553,956 

12,084,560,005 

16,159,616,068 

1870 

280,591,521 

9,914,780,825 

4,264,205,907 

14,178,986,732 

30,068,518,507 

1880 

313,921,474 

13,032,106,450 

4,107,797,045 

17,139,903,495 

43,642,000,000 

1890 

471,365,140 

18,956,556,675 

6,516,616,743 

25,473,173,418 

65,037,091,197 

To  obviate  these  evils,  there  have  been  established  in  many 
states  one  or  more  special  taxes,  notably  taxes  on  corporations 
and  on  inheritances.  These  are  state  taxes,  and  are  not  di- 
rectly connected  with  local  taxation,  but  they  offset  partially 


MUNICIPAL  REVENUES  355 

the  inequalities  of  the  general  property  tax.  It  is  strongly 
urged  by  the  special  students  of  the  general  problems  of  taxa- 
tion that  it  would  be  well  if  the  state  should  derive  all  of  its 
revenue  from  such  special  taxes,  and  restore  the  property  tax 
to  its  original  position  as  a  local  tax ;  while  in  that  case  the 
cities  might  abandon  entirely  the  taxation  of  urban  personalty, 
as  adequately  reached  by  the  various  state  taxes.  In  New 
York  State  the  franchise  tax  law  of  1899  has  made  important 
changes  in  the  assessments  on  street  railways,  gas  companies, 
and  other  persons  and  companies  using  the  public  streets. 
Heretofore  the  franchise  or  privilege  of  using  the  public 
streets  had  been  assessed  as  personal  property,  and,  as  such, 
deductions  were  allowed  for  bonded  and  other  indebtedness, 
which  resulted  in  the  companies  paying  taxes  only  on  their 
real  estate.  The  act  of  1899  provides  that  the  value  of  the 
franchise  —  including  the  value  of  tangible  property  in  any 
street  or  public  place  —  shall  be  assessed  as  real  estate  (hence 
subject  to  no  deduction  for  debts).  It  seems  to  the  writer 
that  this  method  is  better  than  that  proposed  elsewhere  of 
valuing  first  the  physical  property  as  detached  units,  and  then 
estimating  the  value  of  the  franchise  as  non-physical  property. 
The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  has  upheld  this 
principle  of  a  collective  value  which  may  far  exceed  the  sum 
of  the  values  of  the  particular  detached  pieces  of  property. 
To  separate  the  monopoly  franchise  value  from  the  value  of 
the  detached  properties  confuses  the  discussion  and  makes  it 
appear  that  something  intangible  or  non-existent  is  being 
taxed,  while  it  also  adds  enormously  to  the  problem  of  assess- 
ment by  necessitating  an  examination  of  all  the  physical 
elements.  A  single  valuation  on  the  property  as  a  whole 
(based  probably  on  net  earnings)  not  only  simplifies  enor- 
mously the  work  of  assessment,  but  also  makes  clear  that  the 
"  monopoly  value  "  resides  in  the  physical  property,  and  not 
in  any  intangible  elements. 

Trade  or  business  taxes  are  also  to  be  found  in  the  United 
States  as  a  noticeable  source  of  municipal  revenue,  though 
they  are  much  less  important  than  in  Prussia.  In  most 
American  cities  the  only  important  trade  tax  is  that  from 


356  MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

retail  liquor  stores;  but  these  taxes  are  placed  so  high  for 
police  purposes  that  they  yield  not  a  little  income.  In  New 
York  the  tax  is  $ 800  a  year  on  each  retail  dealer ;  in  Minne- 
sota, Nebraska,  and  Missouri,  from  $500  to  $1000  —  the 
larger  amount  in  the  cities ;  in  Massachusetts,  $1300 ;  in 
Pennsylvania,  $500,  and  in  several  Southern  states  from  $500 
upwards.  Illinois  imposes  a  tax  of  $150  on  saloons  dispens- 
ing only  malt  liquors,  and  $500  on  saloons  selling  all  liquors. 

In  many  states  a  part  of  the  revenue  from  liquor  licenses 
goes  to  the  county,  and  in  some  states  part  to  the  state 
treasury.  Thus  in  New  York  the  cities  receive  two-thirds 
and  the  state  one-third;  and  in  Massachusetts  the  cities 
receive  three-fourths  and  the  state  one-fourth.  Municipal 
revenue  from  liquor  licenses  in  1890  in  cities  of  over  4000 
population  was  $14,442,448,  while  the  total  revenue  from 
liquor  licenses  was  $24,786,496.  In  1899  New  York  city 
alone  received  $5,713,869  from  this  source ;  Chicago, 
$3,127,403;  Philadelphia,  $1,709,134;  St.  Louis,  $974,071; 
and  Boston,  $1,482,077. 

There  are  various  other  license  and  trade  taxes  in  Ameri- 
can cities,  but  only  in  some  Southern  cities  are  such  taxes  at 
all  general  on  all  kinds  of  business,  and  only  there  do  they 
yield  any  considerable  revenue.  In  the  United  States  the 
total  revenue  from  trade  taxes  other  than  liquor  licenses  is 
less  than  one-half  that  from  liquor  licenses  alone.  In  At- 
lanta these  other  trade  taxes  amounted  in  1899  to  $114,073, 
almost  one-third  more  than  the  liquor  licenses,  and  nearly 
one-sixth  of  the  property  tax.  In  Savannah  (Ga.)  the  other 
business  taxes  produced  $100,971,  more  than  double  the 
liquor  licenses  and  one-fifth  of  the  property  tax  revenue.  In 
Norfolk  (Va.)  the  income  from  the  other  trade  taxes 
($109,029)  was  three  times  that  from  liquor  licenses  and 
nearly  one-sixth  of  the  property  tax.  In  New  Orleans  the 
revenue  from  this  source  ($182,000)  is  more  than  that  from 
liquor  licenses;  and  in  Louisville  it  is  about  the  same 
($132,000)  from  each  source ;  but  in  both  of  these  cities  the 
revenue  derived  from  licenses  on  business  houses  is  an  unim- 
portant share  of  the  total  income. 


MUNICIPAL   REVENUES  357 

A  small  revenue  is  also  received  from  judicial  fines  in  the 
police  and  municipal  courts,  but  this  is  nowhere  an  impor- 
tant item. 

Special  Assessments.  —  The  use  of  special  assessments 
levied  on  the  basis  of  direct  benefits  supposed  to  be  derived 
from  a  given  improvement,  and  not  on  the  basis  of  ability  or 
of  the  value  of  the  property  taxed,  is  a  much  more  general 
factor  in  American  municipal  finance  than  in  other  countries. 
In  part  this  difference  is  due  to  a  real  difference  in  the 
method  of  distributing  the  expense  of  such  improvements  ; 
but  in  part  the  difference  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  in 
other  countries  a  considerable  share  of  such  improvements 
is  carried  out  directly  by  the  property  owners,  which  in 
America  is  done  under  municipal  authority. 

Although  the  system  of  special  assessments  is  now  but  little 
used  in  England,  and  its  use  at  all  is  bitterly  opposed  there, 
the  American  system  was  derived  from  England.  The  idea 
has  been  a  prominent  factor  in  public  charges ;  and  specifi- 
cally it  appears  in  the  early  English  sewer  rates  (1427). 
But  the  system  of  assessment  for  the  early  drainage  improve- 
ments was  in  fact  based  on  the  amount  of  property,  and 
the  sewer  rate  developed  into  a  tax  similar  to  the  poor 
rate.  The  more  obvious  precursor  of  the  American  system 
is  found  in  a  statute  of  1662  authorizing  certain  street  im- 
provements of  Westminster,  and  providing  for  assessments 
on  the  property  in  consideration  of  the  improvement  made. 
Five  years  later  another  law  for  the  rebuilding  of  London 
after  the  great  fire  contains  an  almost  verbal  repetition  of 
the  former  law,  with  a  more  definite  statement  authorizing  a 
tax  "upon  all  houses  within  the  said  city  in  proportion  to 
the  benefit  they  shall  receive."  These  acts  have  been  spe- 
cially referred  to  here  because  they  seem  to  have  been  the 
model  for  the  first  law  providing  for  special  assessments  in 
America.  A  New  York  province  law  of  1691  in  its  effective 
clause  follows  the  English  law  of  1667  almost  word  for  word.1 

1  E.  R.  A.  Seligman,  Essays  in  Taxation,  341^343. 


358 


MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 


In  England  the  special  assessment  system  fell  into  disuse, 
and  has  only  recently  been  revived.  In  America,  too, 
although  the  New  York  law  remained  in  force,  the  system 
was  but  little  used  during  the  colonial  period,  nor,  indeed, 
until  after  1812.  Since  then  special  assessments  have  come 
into  frequent  use  in  American  municipalities  as  a  means  of 
distributing  the  expense  of  improvements,  although  it  was 
not  until  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  that  the  system 
became  general.  In  1890  the  receipts  from  special  assess- 
ments in  the  United  States  aggregated  §21,451,969,  equal 
to  5  per  cent  of  the  total  revenue  from  the  direct  property 
tax,  and  a  much  larger  proportion  of  the  municipal  revenue 
from  such  tax.  Special  assessments  are  used  principally  for 
street  grading  and  paving,  and  for  sewer  construction,  but 
also  to  some  extent  for  parks  and  boulevards,  where  part  of 
the  expenses  may  be  charged  to  the  owners  of  adjacent 
property. 

RECEIPTS   OF  UNITED   STATES   CITIES  — 1890 


Cities  with 

Population 

Over  50,000 

4,000  to  50,000 

Ad  Valorem  Taxes,  Municipal  Purposes 

$133,141,209 
10,804,577 

$45,151,711 
3,637,871 

Licenses,  Other    
Special  Assessments     

4,064,329 
17,004,516 

2,079,752 
3,839,133 

Fees,  Fines,  and  Penalties     .... 

2,018,401 
5,056,458 

987,258 
3,024,153 

4,270,006 

956,706 

4,140,768 

1,074,410 

Miscellaneous  

6,416,277 

3,943,917 

Total  Ordinary  Revenue     .... 

$186,916,541 

$64,694,911 

CHAPTER  XVI 
FINANCE  ADMINISTRATION 

HAVING  examined  the  principal  factors  in  municipal  ex- 
penditure and  municipal  income,  we  can  now  consider  the 
duties  of  the  principal  officials  specially  charged  with  finan- 
cial administration.  There  are  three  main  divisions  in  this 
field  :  the  formation  of  the  budget,  by  which  receipts  and 
expenditures  are  adjusted ;  the  assessment  and  collection  of 
revenues ;  and  the  systems  of  auditing  and  controlling  dis- 
bursements. 

United  States 

Budget  Procedure. — The  budget  arrangements  in  American 
cities  offer  a  wide  variety,  which  it  is  impossible  to  reduce  to 
any  general  statement.  One  distinguishing  feature  of  the 
American  arrangements  is  that  the  budgets  are  prepared  by 
local  officials  subject  to  no  administrative  control,  although 
there  are  legislative  statutes  regulating  and  restricting  the. 
total  amount  of  municipal  debt  that  may  be  incurred,  special 
statutes  making  certain  items  of  expenditure  compulsory  in 
particular  cities,  and  in  some  cases  statutes  restricting  the 
amount  of  the  total  tax  levy.  Of  the  variety  of  local  budget 
methods,  two  contrasting  systems  may  be  described :  the 
council  system,  which  was  formerly  universal ;  and  the  board 
of  estimate  plan. 

In  the  original  council  system  the  various  spending  depart- 
ments submit  to  the  council  estimates  of  the  amount  needed 
or  wanted  for  the  following  year.  These  estimates  are  con- 
sidered either  by  a  single  appropriation  committee,  or  by 
several  committees;  and  an  appropriation  bill  is  prepared, 
discussed  by  the  council,  and  passed  subject  to  the  mayor's 

369 


360  MUNICIPAL   FINANCES 

limited  veto  power.  The  final  bill  will  usually  vary  widely 
from  the  department  estimates,  and  the  responsibility  for  the 
accepted  budget  rests  with  the  appropriation  committees 
or  the  council  as  a  whole.  This  system  has  in  many  cities 
tended  toward  extravagance,  since  the  members  of  the  coun- 
cil have  been  more  interested  in  securing  improvements  than 
in  reducing  taxation ;  and  it  is  on  this  account  that  there  has 
been  introduced  in  most  of  the  large  cities  a  board  of  esti- 
mate, or  similar  authority,  with  more  or  less  power  over  the 
preparation  of  the  budget.  The  powers  of  this  board  are 
most  extensive  in  New  York  city.  The  board  there  has 
consisted  of  the  mayor,  the  comptroller,  the  president  of  the 
department  of  taxes  and  assessments,  the  corporation  counsel, 
and  the  president  of  the  council  —  all  but  one  administrative 
officials,  but  officials  not  connected  with  any  of  the  large 
spending  departments.  The  mayor,  comptroller,  and  presi- 
dent of  the  council  were  each  elected  by  popular  vote ;  the 
other  two  officials  were  appointed  by  the  mayor,  so  that  the 
latter  and  his  appointees  could  control  the  board.  In  1902 
a  new  organization  goes  into  effect.  The  presidents  of  the 
five  boroughs  into  which  New  York  is  divided  are  admitted 
to  the  board ;  and  the  various  members  are  given  different 
voting  strength.  The  elected  members  will  control  the 
board;  but  the  borough  presidents  will  be  officers  directly 
interested  in  expenditures  on  public  works. 

To  this  board  each  department  submits  its  estimates  with 
comparative  figures  for  the  preceding  year.  Each  depart- 
ment estimate  is  considered  by  the  board  after  consultation 
with  the  head  of  the  department,  and  the  budget  of  expendi- 
tures is  drawn  up  by  the  board  and  submitted  to  the  munici- 
pal assembly.  The  assembly,  under  the  charter  of  1897,  has 
no  authority  to  increase  any  item  in  the  budget,  but  may  by 
a  three-quarters  vote  decrease  the  amounts  fixed  by  the  board 
of  assessment.  Finally,  the  mayor  may  veto  any  item  in  an 
appropriation  bill,  and  this  veto  can  be  overruled  only  by  a 
five-sixths  vote  of  all  the  members  of  each  house. 

The  total  regular  appropriations  for  the  year  being  deter- 
mined in  one  way  or  another,  the  process  of  determining  the 


FINANCE  ADMINISTRATION  361 

tax  rate  is  comparatively  simple.  To  the  appropriations  are 
added  the  amounts  prescribed  for  interest  on  loans,  for  sinking 
funds,  and  for  state  and  county  taxes.  From  the  total  is 
deducted  the  estimates  of  revenue  from  property,  franchises, 
industrial  undertakings,  licenses,  fees,  and  state  grants.  The 
balance  is  compared  with  the  assessed  valuation  of  taxable 
property  for  the  city  as  determined  by  the  assessors,  and  the 
rate  necessary  to  yield  the  desired  revenue  is  calculated. 

Assessment  and  Collection.  —  The  assessors  have  two  func- 
tions to  perform  :  the  valuation  of  the  property ;  and  the 
assessment  of  the  tax  to  each  property  owner  at  the  deter- 
mined rate.  The  valuations  of  property  are  commonly  sup- 
posed to  be  made  each  year ;  but  in  large  cities  it  is  impossible 
for  assessors  to  visit  and  inspect  even  all  the  real  estate  every 
year,  and  valuations  usually  stand  for  several  years  unless 
there  is  some  marked  improvement.  Personalty  assessments 
are  made  largely  by  guesswork.  The  general  rule  of  law  is 
that  personalty  must  be  assessed  at  the  domicile  of  the  owner; 
but  some  forms  of  tangible  personalty  may  be  assessed  at  its 
situs,  and  the  confusion  of  the  law  on  this  point  gives  rise  to 
double  assessments.  Moreover,  owners  of  personalty  are 
allowed  to  "  swear  off  "  their  assessments  in  bulk  in  many 
states.  There  is,  however,  very  little  opportunity  for  judi- 
cial review  of  the  individual  assessments. 

The  valuations  and  tax  assessments  being  made,  the  tax 
books  are  handed  to  the  collector  or  receiver  of  taxes,  who 
receives  the  payments  from  the  taxpayers  and  turns  the  rev- 
enue over  to  the  city  treasurer.  The  amount  received  varies 
considerably  from  the  total  amount  of  the  assessment.  Small 
rebates  are  usually  allowed  for  prompt  payment,  interest  is 
charged  on  delayed  payments,  while  there  is  always  a  num- 
ber of  delinquent  taxpayers,  whose  taxes  must  be  collected 
by  special  processes. 

Accounting  and  Auditing.  —  The  financial  bookkeeping  and 
auditing  of  accounts  in  all  important  American  cities  is 
carried  out  under  the  direction  of  a  comptroller,  auditor,  or 


362  MUNICIPAL   FINANCES 

controller,  who  is,  in  most  cases,  an  elective  officer.  In 
Cleveland,  Chicago,  and  Detroit,  however,  the  official  whose 
functions  correspond  to  those  of  the  comptroller  is  appointed 
by  the  mayor.  The  duties  of  the  comptroller  in  most  cases 
include  other  functions  than  that  of  auditing  accounts. 
Generally  he  has  some  supervision  over  the  entire  finan- 
cial administration,  while  in  cities  where  the  board  of  esti- 
mate system  has  been  adopted  he  has  a  large  influence  over 
the  budget.  In  New  York  the  comptroller  is  the  head  of 
the  finance  department,  and  the  chamberlain  (treasurer)  is 
simply  the  chief  of  a  bureau  in  that  department ;  more  gener- 
ally, however,  the  treasurer  is  a  coordinate  official  to  the 
comptroller. 

As  auditing  authority  the  comptroller's  office  examines  and 
approves  (or  disapproves)  all  claims  against  the  city ;  and 
payments  are  made  by  the  treasurer  only  on  warrants  of  the 
comptroller.  This  auditing  system  is  in  addition  to  the  pre- 
liminary examination  and  approval  of  bills  by  the  department 
concerned.  In  addition  to  the  checking  of  accounts,  the 
comptroller's  bureau  often  does  a  large  amount  of  inspection 
of  work  and  supplies.  On  the  other  hand  the  comptroller's 
audit  and  inspection  does  not  always  include  the  whole  field 
of  municipal  expenditure.  School  boards  very  often  have  an 
independent  audit,  and  in  some  cases  police  and  other  boards 
conduct  the  audit  of  their  own  accounts. 

The  methods  of  keeping  accounts  in  the  different  cities 
show  the  extreme  of  variety,  and  the  total  lack  of  anything 
like  a  general  system.  To  a  certain  extent  local  differences 
require  variations  in  the  methods  of  municipal  bookkeeping, 
especially  for  certain  special  and  trust  funds.  But  in  America 
the  variations  go  far  beyond  those  made  necessary.  This 
lack  of  uniformity  in  accounting  is  one  of  the  most  serious 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  comparative  study  of  municipal 
finances ;  while  in  most  cases  the  reports  of  municipal  comp- 
trollers are  in  such  a  confused  condition  that  even  one  well 
acquainted  with  the  local  conditions  finds  it  difficult,  if  not 
impossible,  to  understand  the  financial  situation.  In  the 
Statistics  of  Cities  prepared  by  the  Department  of  Labor,  an 


FINANCE  ADMINISTRATION  363 

attempt  is  made  to  present  the  most  important  items  for  the 
cities  of  over  30,000  population.  The  figures  given  are  de- 
termined after  investigations  by  the  agents  of  the  department 
in  the  comptrollers'  books,  and  are  presented  in  a  much  more 
intelligible  fashion  than  in  most  municipal  reports;  but  with 
the  limited  means  at  their  disposal,  and  the  fundamental 
absence  of  any  general  system  in  keeping  accounts,  there 
must  remain  considerable  doubt  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the 
comparisons. 

France 

Budget  Procedure.  —  In  the  French  cities  and  communes, 
the  first  step  in  the  adoption  of  the  budget  is  the  preparation 
of  a  provisional  budget  by  the  maire,  which  is  presumably  in 
the  larger  cities  based  on  estimates  from  the  administrative 
bureaus.  There  is  in  the  law  a  provision  that  if  the  maire 
does  not  act  in  this  matter,  the  prefect  of  the  department 
may  prepare  the  provisional  budget  through  a  special  dele- 
gate. This  provisional  budget  is  presented  to  the  municipal 
council  in  the  early  summer,  with  the  accounts  for  the  pre- 
ceding year.  It  is  then  discussed  in  detail  at  the  annual 
session  of  the  council  (usually  in  May),  which  may  last  for 
six  weeks ;  and  after  discussion  the  budget  is  voted  by  the 
council.  Before  the  budget  goes  into  effect,  however,  it 
must  be  approved  by  the  higher  administrative  authorities : 
by  the  prefect  of  the  department  in  most  cases,  but  for  those 
cities  whose  ordinary  revenue  is  3,000,000  francs  a  year,  by 
the  President  of  the  Republic  on  the  proposition  of  the 
minister  of  the  interior.  There  are  now  eleven  cities  in  the 
latter  group  :  Paris,  Lyons,  Marseilles,  Bordeaux,  Lille,  Tou- 
louse, St.-Etienne,  Nantes,  Le  Havre,  Rouen,  and  Roubaix. 
For  this  administrative  examination  and  approval,  the  budget 
as  voted  by  the  council  is  transmitted  by  the  mayor  to  the 
sub-prefect,  accompanied  by  the  accounts  for  the  preceding 
year,  the  definitive  budget  for  the  current  year,  the  report  of 
the  mayor  to  the  council,  the  discussions  in  the  council,  and 
detailed  statements  in  reference  to  each  item  in  the  budget. 
The  various  documents  are  forwarded  to  the  prefect,  with  the 


364  MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

advice  of  the  sub-prefect.  In  the  case  of  the  eleven  largest 
cities,  the  documents  must  again  be  forwarded  to  the  minis- 
ter of  the  interior  with  the  observations  of  the  prefect. 

The  administrative  control  over  the  budget  is  for  the  pur- 
pose of  correcting  errors  in  the  estimates  of  revenues,  and  to 
assure  the  execution  of  laws  and  administrative  regulations 
in  reference  to  expenditures.  In  the  matter  of  revenues,  the 
prefect  or  president  may  increase  or  decrease  the  estimates 
for  particular  items,  and  add  sources  of  revenue  which 
have  been  omitted.  In  the  matter  of  expenses,  the  higher 
authority  may  reduce  any  item,  subject  to  two  important 
exceptions  :  when  all  the  obligatory  expenses  have  been  pro- 
vided for  and  there  are  no  extraordinary  receipts,  no  reduc- 
tions can  be  made  ;  and  the  allowance  for  unforeseen  expenses 
may  be  reduced  or  rejected  only  if  the  ordinary  revenues, 
after  satisfying  all  obligatory  expenses,  do  not  leave  a  suffi- 
cient surplus.  The  higher  authority  cannot  increase  the 
optional  expenditures  nor  add  any  new  item  of  that  nature, 
but  has  power  to  insure  adequate  provision  for  all  the  oblig- 
atory expenses,  subject,  however,  to  elaborate  regulations,  to 
maintain  the  rights  of  the  communes.  Additions  for  such 
obligatory  expenses  can  be  made  only  after  a  formal  demand 
has  been  made  to  the  municipal  council  for  a  special  delibera- 
tion on  the  subject ;  a  prefect's  order  requiring  an  addition 
must  be  issued  in  the  council  of  the  prefecture  ;  and  addi- 
tions for  obligatory  police  expenses  in  all  cities  of  over 
40,000  population  should  be  made  by  a  presidential  order 
reported  in  the  Council  of  State.  If  necessary  to  secure 
revenue  for  such  additional  expenses,  the  prefect  or  president 
may  require  an  additional  tax  or  loan. 

A  comparison  of  the  obligatory  and  optional  expenditures 
in  the  following  list  will  show  that  the  obligatory  list  con- 
tains most  of  the  important  objects  of  expenditure  :  — 

Obligatory  Expenses  :  — 

Maintenance  of  city  hall  and  repairs  of  public  buildings. 
Preservation  of  communal  archives  and  bulletin  of  laws. 
Census  and  electoral  assemblies. 
Civil  registers. 


FINANCE   ADMINISTRATION  365 

Salary  of  municipal  receiver. 

Salaries  of  police  and  watchmen. 

Quarters  for  justices  of  the  peace. 

Public  instruction. 

Care  of  dependent  children  and  insane  in  department  institutions. 

Maintenance  of  cemeteries. 

Rural  roads  ;  plans  and  grades  of  city  streets. 

Payment  of  debt. 

Optional  Expenses  :  — 

Maintenance  of  street  pavements. 

Maintenance  of  fire-engines. 

Public  lighting. 

Poor  relief  and  subventions  to  hospitals. 

Salaries  of  special  teachers  in  elementary  schools — singing,  drawing, 

and  gymnastics. 

Supplement  to  salary  of  priest  or  minister. 
Public  celebrations. 
Unforeseen  expenses. 

Management  of  Municipal  Funds.  —  Municipal  funds  are 
received  and  paid  out  by  an  official  known  as  the  munici- 
pal receiver.  In  small  communes  the  local  collecting  agent 
of  the  national  revenues,  known  as  the  percepteur,  acts  also 
for  the  local  treasury.  But  in  any  city  where  the  ordinary 
budget  is  over  30,000  francs  a  year,  there  may  be  provided, 
at  the  request  of  the  municipal  council,  a  special  municipal 
receiver.  This  officer  is  appointed  by  the  prefect  in  com- 
munes whose  revenue  is  less  than  300,000  francs,  and  by  the 
president  on  the  proposition  of  the  minister  of  finance,  in 
larger  communes.  In  either  case  the  municipal  council  sub- 
mits three  nominations  ;  but  the  appointing  power  may 
decline  to  appoint  either,  and  if  no  acceptable  names  are 
presented  may  decline  to  make  any  appointment,  leaving  the 
municipal  finances  in  the  hands  of  the  percepteur. 

The  receiver  or  treasurer  is  immediately  responsible  for 
the  collection  of  the  revenues,  under  the  surveillance  of  the 
mayor,  and  has  the  authority  and  duty  of  enforcing  all  pay- 
ments due  to  the  municipal  treasury.  He  has  also  some  con- 
trol over  payments,  but  the  primary  responsibility  for  these 
rests  with  the  mayor.  Only  in  Paris  is  there  a  controller, 
appointed  by  the  prefect  of  the  Seine.  Elsewhere  warrants 


366  MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

for  payments  are  issued  by  the  mayor ;  and  the  municipal 
receiver  may  refuse  payment  only  (1)  if  they  are  not  drawn 
on  a  definite  account  or  exceed  the  appropriation  for  the 
account ;  (2)  if  the  proper  documents  are  not  attached ;  or 
(3)  if  there  are  no  funds  in  the  treasury. 

Both  mayor  and  receiver  are  required  to  keep  detailed 
books  of  accounts,  and  these  two  sets  of  accounts  act  as  a 
check  on  each  other.  Each  officer  must  submit  an  annual 
detailed  report  of  receipts  and  expenditures,  showing  under 
each  item  the  budget  estimates  and  the  actual  transactions. 
These  reports  go  to  the  municipal  council,  which  examines 
them  in  connection  with  its  study  of  the  budget  for  the  com- 
ing year.  But  the  more  important  examination  and  audit  is 
that  made  by  the  higher  administrative  authorities. 

Central  Audit.  —  The  accounts  of  the  mayor  receive  their 
final  examination  and  approval  by  the  prefect ;  and  this 
examination  seems  to  be  simply  a  comparison  of  his  accounts 
with  those  of  the  receiver.  The  latter  are  subject,  after  the 
examination  by  the  municipal  council,  to  another  adminis- 
trative examination  by  the  receiver  of  finances  (an  agent  of 
the  national  finance  ministry),  and  then  to  a  judicial  audit 
by  the  councils  of  prefecture  for  small  communes,  and  by  the 
national  Court  of  Accounts  for  all  communes  whose  income 
is  over  30,000  francs  a  year. 

While  for  the  great  majority  of  communes  the  final  audit 
is  performed  by  the  councils  of  prefecture  in  the  depart- 
ments, the  accounts  of  the  625  communes  sent  to  the  Court 
of  Accounts  (including  roughly  those  with  over  4000  popula- 
tion) are  of  most  importance  to  our  subject.  The  Court  of 
Accounts  is  composed  of  a  first  president,  three  division  presi- 
dents, eighteen  master  counsellors,  twenty-six  referendars  of 
the  first  class,  and  sixty  referendars  of  the  second  class,  all 
appointed  for  life  by  the  President  of  the  Republic.  There 
is  also  a  body  of  twenty-five  auditors,  young  men  in  training 
for  the  higher  positions.  These  auditors  are  selected  by  ex- 
amination from  candidates  who  are  licentiates  in  law,  at  least 
twenty-one  years  of  age  and  not  over  twenty-eight  years. 


FINANCE  ADMINISTRATION  367 

There  is  also  attached  to  the  court  a  public  attorney  and  a 
marshal.  '  The  first  president  and  public  attorney  have  each 
a  salary  of  30,000  francs  a  year  ;  the  division  presidents  each 
25,000  francs ;  counsellors,  18,000  francs  ;  marshal  and  ref- 
erendars  of  the  first  class,  12,000  francs  ;  referendars  of  the 
second  class,  8000  francs ;  auditors,  3200  and  2000  francs  each. 

The  jurisdiction  of  this  Court  of  Accounts  includes  the 
whole  field  of  public  finances  in  France:  State,  local,  and 
certain  semi-public  institutions.  It  has  original  jurisdiction 
over  the  accounts  of  the  State  and  the  accounts  of  municipal 
receivers  for  communes  whose  annual  revenue  exceeds 
30,000  francs.  It  acts  as  a  court  of  appeal  from  the  coun- 
cils of  prefecture  in  reference  to  the  accounts  of  smaller 
communes.  We  are  here  concerned  only  with  its  examina- 
tion of  municipal  accounts.  When  these  accounts  are 
received,  they  are  distributed  by  the  first  president  to  the 
referendars,  under  the  regulation  that  no  referendar  receives 
the  accounts  of  the  same  official  twice  in  succession.  The 
referendar  must  verify  and  audit  all  the  accounts  submitted 
to  him,  and  present  a  report  to  the  division  of  the  court  to 
which  the  account  belongs.  This  report  is  then  examined 
by  one  of  the  six  master  counsellors  in  the  division,  who  also 
tests  the  referendar's  work  by  examining  part  of  the  accounts. 
The  report  of  the  counsellor  is  then  made  to  the  division, 
and  after  discussion  with  the  referendar  the  decisions  are 
made  by  a  majority  of  the  seven  members  of  the  division. 

A  provisional  decision  is  first  rendered  ;  and  the  official 
whose  accounts  have  been  examined  has  an  opportunity 
to  submit  an  answer  to  any  changes  or  disallowances  in  his 
accounts  ;  but  this  must  be  submitted  within  two  months, 
after  which  the  court  renders  its  definitive  order.  This  can 
be  attacked  only  on  the  ground  that  the  legal  formalities 
have  not  been  complied  with,  for  which  an  appeal  may  be 
taken  to  the  Council  of  State.  On  all  questions  concerning 
the  accounts  themselves,  the  decision  of  the  Court  of  Ac- 
counts is  final.  The  orders  of  the  Court  of  Accounts  simply 
correct  the  financial  statements,  by  ordering  payments  to  be 
made  to  cover  errors;  but  they  cannot  impose  any  penalty 


368  MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

for  fraud.  If  there  is  any  evidence  of  fraud,  the  Court  of 
Accounts  reports  the  matter  to  the  minister  of  finance,  who 
refers  it  to  the  minister  of  justice,  by  whom  action  will  be 
begun  to  bring  the  offender  before  the  proper  court. 

The  criticism  is  made  on  this  system  of  central  audit,  that 
it  does  not  establish  an  effective  control  over  expenditures. 
No  close  inspection  is  made  of  the  accounts  of  the  ordonncu- 
teurs,  or  officials  who  issue  warrants  for  payments,  while 
these  officials  are  members  of  the  active  administration. 
Thus  in  the  municipal  system,  the  mayor,  who  is  at  the  head 
of  the  administration,  also  performs  the  functions  of  a  comp- 
troller in  American  cities,  and  his  accounts  are  not  subjected 
to  a  detailed  audit.  It  should,  however,  be  said  that  the 
receiver  plays  a  more  important  part  than  the  treasurer  of 
American  cities,  and  on  account  of  the  elaborate  control 
over  the  budget  is  able  to  confine  expenditures  to  purposes 
authorized. 

Italy 

In  Italy  the  budget  procedure  and  the  management  of  mu- 
nicipal funds  are  similar  to  those  in  France.  There  is  also  a 
national  Court  of  Accounts,  which  has  appellate,  but  no 
original,  jurisdiction  over  the  audit  of  local  finances.  The 
original  audit  is  made  by  the  councils  of  prefecture  in  the 
various  provinces;  but  this  system  does  not  involve  any 
novel  features  requiring  special  attention. 

Q-ermany 

In  Germany,  and  notably  in  Prussia,  the  central  control 
over  municipal  finances  is  much  weaker  than  in  either  France 
or  Italy ;  and  there  is  consequently  less  compulsory  uniform- 
ity of  municipal  accounts.  Nevertheless,  the  professional 
and  permanent  character  of  municipal  administration  has 
apparently  secured  a  high  degree  of  system  and  uniformity 
of  methods. 

The  Prussian  cities  may  be  taken  as  the  best  examples  of 
the  German  system  of  municipal  finance  administration. 
In  these,  the  municipal  budgets  are  drafted  by  the  board  of 


FINANCE  ADMINISTRATION  369 

executive  magistrates,  by  which  it  is  presented  to  the  elected 
council ;  and  after  full  discussion  the  definitive  budget  is 
adopted  by  resolution  of  the  council,  without  the  necessity 
for  preliminary  examination  and  approval  by  the  higher 
administrative  authorities.  After  its  adoption,  however,  the 
budget  is  submitted  to  the  district  prefect  (Regierungsprasi- 
dent),  who  may  insert  any  item  of  obligatory  expense 
omitted  in  the  budget,  the  city  having  the  right  to  appeal 
from  his  action  to  the  higher  administrative  court. 

General  control  of  the  municipal  treasury  is  one  of  the 
functions  of  the  board  of  magistrates.  The  immediate 
management  of  the  finances  is  assigned  to  a  chamberlain 
or  treasurer  in  the  eastern  provinces,  in  Schleswig-Holstein 
and  Frankfort-on-the-Main  ;  but  in  Hanover  and  the  Rhine 
province  this  is  one  of  the  functions  of  the  burgomaster. 
There  are  in  either  case  various  subordinate  officers,  such  as 
collectors,  bookkeepers,  and  cashiers;  but  all  are  municipal 
officials,  and  there  is  no  appointee  of  the  central  government, 
like  the  municipal  receivers  in  France. 

The  audit  of  accounts  is  also  made  by  municipal  officials. 
The  board  of  magistrates  makes  the  first  audit,  and  presents 
the  accounts  with  its  report  and  comments  to  the  council. 
The  council  conducts  a  second  examination  and  revision  of 
the  accounts,  after  which  they  are  definitively  adopted  by 
resolution.  In  Schleswig-Holstein  there  is  an  audit  made  by 
a  joint  committee  representing  the  magistrates  and  council, 
and  the  report  of  this  committee  is  examined  by  each  body 
and  adopted.  These  examinations  are  not  limited  to  proving 
the  calculations  and  comparing  the  accounts  with  the 
vouchers  ;  but  are  also  to  test  the  legality,  methods,  and 
carefulness  of  the  entire  administration.  There  does  not 
appear  to  be  any  such  official  as  the  American  comptroller, 
whose  voucher  to  an  account  is  necessary  to  its  payment. 
While  there  is  no  audit  of  the  accounts  by  the  higher  admin- 
istrative authorities,  a  copy  of  the  accounts  (in  the  western 
provinces)  or  the  resolution  of  the  council  (in  the  eastern 
provinces)  must  be  sent  to  the  district  prefect,  for  inspection, 
who  may  enter  a  protest  against  any  obvious  mistakes. 

2n 


370  MUNICIPAL  FINANCES 

United  Kingdom1 

Municipal  finances  in  British  towns  are  for  the  most  part 
under  the  control  of  the  various  local  authorities ;  but  there 
are  some  important  forms  of  central  control.  On  the  whole 
this  central  control  is  stronger  than  in  Prussia,  but  much 
weaker  than  in  France. 

In  the  preparation  of  their  budgets  of  annual  receipts  and 
expenditures,  the  authorities  of  each  city  have  complete  free- 
dom, and  moreover  the  different  authorities  in  each  city  act 
entirely  independently  of  the  others.  Every  town  council, 
school  board,  board  of  poor  law  guardians,  or  other  authority 
has  a  finance  committee,  which  prepares  and  submits  the 
provisional  budget,  and  this  is  discussed,  amended,  and 
adopted  by  the  larger  body.  These  budgets  do  not  even 
have  to  be  reported  to  the  central  authorities,  as  in  Prussia. 
There  are,  however,  two  classes  of  financial  transactions 
which  require  the  previous  approval  of  a  central  authority  : 
the  purchase  and  disposal  of  property,  and  the  making  of 
loans.  The  latter  is  the  more  important ;  and  the  control 
exercised  by  the  Local  Government  Boards  of  England,  Scot- 
land, and  Ireland  over  local  indebtedness  is  more  efficacious 
and  at  the  same  time  more  flexible  than  the  fixed  constitu- 
tional or  statutory  debt  limits  in  the  United  States.  The 
valuation  of  property  for  the  purpose  of  the  various  local 
taxes  for  the  different  authorities  is  performed  by  the  poor 
law  authorities;  or,  rather,  the  poor  law  valuations  are 
generally  accepted  by  the  other  authorities.  But  a  town 
council  may  cause  an  independent  valuation  to  be  made,  if 
they  do  not  consider  the  valuation  for  the  poor  rate  a  fair 
criterion. 

While  the  preparation  of  budgets  and  the  assessment  and 
collection  of  taxes  are  thus  in  the  main  free  from  central 
control,  the  disbursements  of  all  but  one  class  of  local 
authorities  are  audited  by  agents  of  the  Local  Government 
Boards.  The  class  excepted  is  the  most  important  class  of 
urban  authorities,  the  councils  of  the  municipal  boroughs 

*  M.  R.  Maltbie,  English  Local  Government  of  To-day,  chs.  6,  7. 


FINANCE   ADMINISTRATION  371 

(except  the  newly  created  boroughs  within  the  county  of  Lon- 
don) .  In  each  provincial  municipal  borough  there  are  elected 
two  auditors,  who  examine  the  financial  accounts  of  the  bor- 
ough council  and  its  various  committees.  It  will  be  seen  that 
these  elected  auditors  occupy  the  same  position  independent 
of  the  spending  officials  as  do  the  American  comptrollers. 
The  authorities  whose  accounts  are  examined  by  the  district 
auditors  of  the  Local  Government  Boards  include :  the  poor 
law  guardians,  councils  of  urban  districts  not  boroughs, 
school  boards,  parish  councils,  county  councils,  the  councils 
of  the  metropolitan  boroughs,  and  three  provincial  town 
councils  by  special  act. 

All  of  the  local  authorities,  however,  —  the  town  councils 
as  well  as  those  whose  accounts  are  subject  to  the  central 
audit,  —  submit  reports  to  the  Local  Government  Boards  of 
the  completed  financial  transactions  at  the  close  of  each  year. 
From  these  reports  are  compiled  the  valuable  statistics  of  local 
finances  published  in  the  British  Local  Taxation  Returns. 


PART  IV 
MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 


PART  IV  — MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

CHAPTER   XVII 
THE  COUNCIL 

Authorities. — F.  J.  GOODNOW:  Comparative  Administrative  Law;  Munici- 
pal Home  Rule. — J.  F.  DILLON:  Law  of  Municipal  Corporations. — 
C.  B.  ELLIOTT  :  Law  of  Public  Corporations.  —  HOUR  and  BEMIS  :  Mu- 
nicipal Police  Ordinances.  —  M.  BLOCK  :  Dictionnaire  de  PAdministration 
Franchise.  —  LBIDIG  :  Preussisches  Stadtrecht.  —  TH.  DUCROCQ  :  Cours 
de  Droit  Administratif . 

AT  the  centre  of  the  local  municipal  organization  in  all 
cities  of  the  civilized  world  is  a  council,  a  number  of  admin- 
istrative officers,  and  a  single  official  known  as  the  maire, 
mayor,  or  burgomaster.  The  powers  and  the  relative  in- 
fluence of  these  organs  over  the  whole  field  of  municipal 
administration  varies  to  the  widest  possible  extent.  In 
England,  on  one  hand,  the  council  has  the  entire  scope  of 
authority  and  responsibility  ;  while  at  the  other  extreme  are 
France  and  some  cities  of  the  United  States,  where  the 
mayor  has  full  control,  and  the  council  occupies  an  insig- 
nificant place.  It  is  necessary  now  to  examine  the  position 
and  functions  of  mayor  and  council  separately,  after  which 
we  may  discuss  the  question  as  to  the  proper  distribution  of 
authority  between  them. 

As  has  just  been  indicated,  the  general  position  of  the 
council  in  the  municipal  organization  varies  greatly.  In 
England  it  is  the  all-important  local  authority,  and  this 
supremacy  of  the  council  is  the  most  distinctive  feature  of 
the  English  municipal  system.  The  borough  council,  how- 
ever, has  no  control  over  the  school  board  or  poor  law 
guardians ;  and  it  might  be  more  proper  to  speak  of  the 

375 


376  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

English  system  as  one  of  several  local  councils,  each  inde- 
pendent of  the  others.  The  borough  councils  and  other 
boards  are  also  subject  to  the  control  of  the  central  govern- 
ment. In  Germany  there  is  an  elected  assembly  and  a  board 
of  executive  magistrates,  which  together  have  full  local  con- 
trol over  the  municipal  government ;  and  as  this  includes 
the  schools  and  charities,  it  is  a  more  comprehensive  author- 
ity than  that  of  the  English  borough  councils.  The  elected 
assembly  is  the  determining  authority  on  all  matters  of  local 
legislation,  although  the  magistrates  may  .refuse  to  execute 
any  ordinance  pending  an  appeal  to  the  provincial  authori- 
ties concerning  its  legality ;  and  the  members  of  the 
assembly  also  take  an  active  and  important  part  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  municipal  affairs,  under  the  direction  of  the 
magistrates.  The  municipal  council  in  France  is  not  ex- 
pected to  engage  in  the  active  work  of  administration,  and 
is  mainly  concerned  with  general  decisions  and  the  annual 
budget.  The  council  in  America  originally  occupied  the 
same  position  as  in  England;  but  its  powers  and  influence 
have  steadily  diminished,  and  in  some  cities  it  has  now  little  or 
no  authority.  The  creation  of  independent  departments  has 
been  carried  further  than  in  England ;  important  powers 
of  the  council  have  been  transferred  to  the  mayor;  while 
in  many  cases  even  its  control  over  the  budget  has  been 
limited,  and  in  some  practically  destroyed. 

ORGANIZATION   OF   COUNCILS 

In  England  the  borough  council  consists  of  two  classes  of 
members :  the  councilmen,  elected  by  popular  vote,  and  alder- 
men and  mayor,  elected  by  the  council ;  but  both  classes  sit 
together  in  one  body,  which,  as  a  whole,  exercises  the  powers 
of  the  municipality.  In  Scotland  the  council  is  also  uni- 
cameral,  but  comprises  no  aldermen.  On  the  continent  of 
Europe  a  single-chambered  body  is,  strictly  speaking,  the 
rule  ;  and  the  council  there  consists  of  but  one  class  of 
elected  members.  But  there  is  also  in  these  countries  a 
board  of  the  executive  officials,  which  has  many  of  the  char- 


THE  COUNCIL  377 

acteristics  of  a  second  chamber ;  and  a  second  chamber  of 
this  kind  has  the  distinct  merit  of  representing  a  different 
element  from  the  other  chamber. 

In  the  United  States  there  is  now  no  certain  or  uniform 
rule.  In  the  early  days  the  American  councils,  like  the 
English,  were  unicameral,  with  two  classes  of  members ;  but 
at  the  present  time  there  are  either  two  elected  chambers, 
or  a  single  chamber  with  one  class  of  members.  The  latter 
is  the  prevailing  type  for  the  smaller  cities.  In  1892,  out 
of  376  cities  with  over  8000  inhabitants,  only  82  had  a 
bicameral  council.  Most  of  the  large  cities  have,  at  one  time 
or  another,  had  a  bicameral  council ;  but  many  of  them  have 
returned  to  the  single-house  system.  The  unicameral  plan 
is  now  found  in  Chicago,  Cleveland,  San  Francisco,  Cincin- 
nati, Detroit,  Milwaukee,  Minneapolis,  Rochester,  Syracuse, 
Denver,  New  Orleans,  Troy,  Indianapolis,  and  Columbus. 
The  bicameral  system  is  still  continued  in  Philadelphia,  St. 
Louis,  Boston,  Baltimore,  Buffalo,  Providence,  St.  Paul,  and 
Louisville,  and  generally  in  New  England  and  Pennsylvania. 

Second  chambers  in  American  cities  are  radically  different 
from  the  executive  boards  of  the  cities  of  continental  Europe. 
The  members  are  not  executive  officers,  but,  as  in  the  larger 
chamber,  are  elected  by  popular  vote,  and  frequently  are 
elected  by  the  same  districts.  The  most  general  difference 
is  that  their  terms  are  in  most  cases  for  a  longer  period ; 
but  in  St.  Paul,  Buffalo,  and  a  few  other  cities,  the  alder- 
men are  elected  on  a  general  ticket  or  by  large  districts, 
whereas  the  council  are  chosen  by  wards.  Atlanta  has 
councilmen  elected  by  wards,  and  aldermen  elected  on  gen- 
eral ticket ;  but  both  bodies  meet  as  a  single  house,  except 
when  passing  the  budget  or  creating  debt.  In  Memphis 
the  council  consists  of  the  members  of  two  elected  boards  — 
the  fire  and  police  commissioners  and  the  board  of  public 
works  —  meeting  as  one  body.  In  a  few  American  cities 
something  resembling  the  executive  board  of  the  cities  of 
continental  Europe  has  developed.  In  Chicago  and  Cleve- 
land the  heads  of  the  principal  departments  hold  periodic 
meetings,  and  are  known  as  the  mayor's  cabinet.  The 


378  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

boards  of  estimate  consist  usually  of  several  department 
heads,  but  do  not  include  the  whole  of  this  class ;  and  more- 
over this  board  is  found  as  generally  in  cities  where  there 
are  two-chambered  councils  as  in  those  which  have  the  single 
elected  house. 

The  size  of  the  municipal  councils  is  also  a  very  variable 
quantity;  but  those  in  Germany,  Switzerland,  and  Italy 
usually  have  a  larger  membership  than  those  in  other  coun- 
tries. The  London  County  Council  consists  of  137  members; 
the  Liverpool  council  has  116  members ;  Manchester,  104 ; 
Birmingham,  72 ;  and  Leeds,  60.  In  Germany,  the  Berlin 
elected  council  has  126  members ;  Hamburg,  160 ;  Breslau, 
102 ;  Leipzig  and  Dresden,  each  72 ;  Munich,  60.  In  Italian 
cities  of  over  250,000  inhabitants  there  are  80  members  in 
the  city  councils ;  cities  with  a  population  between  60,000 
and  250,000  have  60  members.  The  Vienna  council  consists 
of  138  members,  and  that  of  Budapest  of  400.  In  France, 
Spain,  and  Holland,  the  councils  of  large  cities  are  distinctly 
smaller.  In  these  countries,  as  in  Italy,  there  is  a  fixed 
graded  scale  according  to  the  population.  In  France,  this 
scale  begins  with  10  members  for  communes  of  less  than  500 
inhabitants,  and  rises  to  36  for  cities  of  over  60,000,  with 
special  exceptions  which  give  the  council  of  Lyons  54  mem- 
bers and  that  of  Paris  80  members.  In  Holland,  the  number 
of  members  in  the  councils  of  large  cities  is  39 ;  and  in 
Spain,  33. 

In  the  United  States  there  is  no  uniformity ;  but  for  the 
most  part  the  municipal  councils  are  smaller  than  in  England, 
Germany,  and  Italy.  Philadelphia,  with  41  members  in  the 
Select  Council  and  146  in  the  Common  Council,  is  a  distinct 
exception  among  American  cities.  Fairly  large  bodies  are 
found  in  New  York,  where  there  have  been  29  members  of 
the  council  and  60  aldermen,  and  will  be  79  members  in 
the  single-chamber  system  which  takes  effect  in  1902 ;  in 
Chicago,  with  70  aldermen ;  and  in  Boston,  with  12  alder- 
men and  75  councilmen.  St.  Louis  has  28  members  in  the 
House  of  Delegates  and  13  in  the  Council.  Providence  has 
10  aldermen  and  40  councillors.  Milwaukee  has  42  mem- 


THE  COUNCIL  379 

bers  in  its  single  chamber.  Other  cities  have  distinctly  small 
bodies :  Baltimore  has  only  8  aldermen  and  24  councilmen ; 
Buffalo,  8  aldermen  and  25  councilmen;  St.  Paul,  9  alder- 
men and  11  councilmen  ;  Cleveland,  20  members  in  the  single 
chamber  of  its  council ;  Cincinnati,  31 ;  Minneapolis,  26  ; 
Rochester,  20  ;  Syracuse,  19  ;  Troy,  13  ;  Denver,  16  ;  Colum- 
bus, 19  ;  and  Atlanta,  6  aldermen  and  14  councilmen. 

The  term  of  service  for  members  of  municipal  councils 
ranges  in  the  principal  countries  from  one  to  nine  years. 
The  longest  period  is  found  in  Bavaria,  where  one-third  are 
elected  every  three  years.  Prussia,  Austria,  Hungary,  Hol- 
land, Belgium,  and  the  city-state  of  Hamburg  have  six-year 
terms.  In  Hamburg,  Belgium,  and  Hungary,  one-half  of  the 
membership  is  elected  every  three  years  ;  in  the  other  coun- 
tries named,  one-third  every  two  years.  The  Italian  mu- 
nicipal councillors  have  a  five-year  term,  with  one-fifth  of  the 
council  elected  every  year.  In  France  and  Spain  the  elec- 
tions are  for  four  years  ;  in  the  former  country  the  entire 
council  retires  at  the  same  time,  and  in  the  latter,  one-half 
of  the  members  are  elected  every  two  years.  In  Saxony,  and 
in  Great  Britain  for  the  popularly  elected  councillors,  the 
term  is  three  years,  with  renewal  by  thirds  every  year,  —  ex- 
cept that  in  London  the  whole  body  is  elected  every  three 
years.  The  aldermen  of  the  English  councils  are  elected  by 
the  councils  for  six-year  terms,  and  one-half  every  three 
years.  There  is,  of  course,  no  universal  rule  for  the  United 
States,  and  the  practice  varies  from  one  to  four  years.  New 
York  and  St.  Louis  have  two-year  terms  for  the  larger  cham- 
ber, and  four  years  for  the  smaller,  renewing  the  former 
body  as  a  whole,  and  the  latter  by  halves  every  two  years. 
The  Chicago  and  Cleveland  councils  are  chosen  for  two  years, 
one-half  every  year.  In  Boston  the  councilmen  are  elected 
for  one  year,  and  the  aldermen  for  two  years.  In  Cincinnati 
and  San  Francisco  the  term  is  two  years.  In  Philadelphia 
the  members  of  the  Common  Council  serve  for  two  years, 
those  in  the  Select  Council  for  three  years.  In  Buffalo  the 
aldermen  are  elected  for  three  years,  one-third  every  year. 
In  New  Orleans  the  term  of  the  councilmen  is  four  years. 


380  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

The  various  systems  of  representation  in  electing  municipal 
councils  present  many  complications  and  several  distinct 
problems.  There  are  systems  of  district  elections,  and  elec- 
tions by  general  ticket ;  elections  by  classes  of  voters,  and 
minority  or  proportional  representation.  As  between  district 
and  general  tickets,  the  English  and  German  cities  have  fol- 
lowed the  district  plan,  by  which  each  district  elects  a  single 
member  at  each  election.  In  France,  Belgium,  and  Italy 
the  communes  elect  their  councils  on  a  general  ticket,  but  in 
the  large  cities  of  Italy  and  France  there  may  be  a  number 
of  large  districts,  each  of  which  elects  several  councillors. 
In  France  each  municipal  district  elects  at  least  four  mem- 
bers of  the  council;  and  the  district  boundaries  are  fixed, 
while  the  number  of  members  assigned  to  each  is  adjusted 
from  time  to  time  according  to  population.  In  America  the 
election  of  one  member  by  each  district  at  each  election  is 
still  the  general  system,  especially  for  cities  with  single- 
chambered  councils.  But  where  there  are  two  chambers, 
although  the  larger  house  is  usually  elected  on  the  district 
plan,  the  smaller  chamber  is  not  infrequently  elected  on  a 
general  ticket.  This  is  the  case  in  St.  Louis,  Buffalo, 
Louisville,  and  Atlanta.  In  San  Francisco  the  board  of 
supervisors  which  occupies  the  position  of  municipal  council 
is  elected  by  general  ticket  for  the  whole  city. 

It  is  often  urged  that  the  district  system  constitutes  one 
of  the  main  factors  in  the  election  of  inferior  men  to  the 
municipal  councils  of  American  cities.  It  seems  reasonable, 
too,  that  single-member  districts  with  artificial  and  change- 
able boundaries,  and  the  requirement  that  aldermen  must  be 
resident  in  their  own  wards,  do  have  some  effect  in  securing 
the  election  of  petty  men.  At  the  same  time,  to  elect  the 
whole  body  on  one  general  ticket  in  a  large  city  makes  it 
possible  that  large  sections  of  the  city  would  have  no  official 
representation.  The  large  district  with  well-defined  boun- 
daries and  distinct  local  interests,  and  with  power  to  elect 
a  number  of  members  instead  of  one,  seems  to  be  the  best 
plan,  although  even  here  there  is  need  for  some  system  of 
minority  representation,  to  prevent  small  majorities  in 


THE   COUNCIL  381 

several  districts  from  securing  a  preponderating  influence 
in  the  council. 

The  general  principle  of  election  is,  that  within  each  dis- 
trict each  voter  casts  a  vote  for  every  position,  and  the  plu- 
rality of  votes  decides  the  result.  In  the  case  of  election  by 
general  ticket,  however,  a  small  plurality  will  elect  the  whole 
number  of  members,  and  allow  no  representation  whatever 
to  a  large  minority  of  voters.  To  obviate  this,  numerous 
schemes  of  voting  have  been  devised  ;  and  several  of  them 
have  been  put  in  operation  in  a  few  places.  Thus,  a  law  of 
1893  provided  that,  at  the  election  of  the  Boston  aldermen, 
chosen  on  a  general  ticket,  no  elector  should  vote  for  more 
than  seven  of  the  twelve  aldermen  to  be  chosen.  Under  this 
plan,  each  party  nominated  only  seven  candidates  ;  so  that, 
while  the  minority  party  was  certain  of  representation,  the 
power  of  the  party  machines  was  increased,  since  a  nomina- 
tion by  either  of  the  two  powerful  parties  was  almost  equiva- 
lent to  an  election.  New  York  city  formerly  had  a  somewhat 
similar  plan.  A  law  of  1849  provided  for  a  board  of  ten 
governors  of  the  almshouse,  two  to  be  chosen  each  year.  The 
candidate  receiving  the  highest  number  of  votes  was  elected, 
and  the  candidate  receiving  the  next  highest  number  was  to 
be  appointed  by  the  mayor.  In  1857  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors of  New  York  County  was  organized  on  a  similar  plan, 
six  members  to  be  elected  by  a  majority  vote,  and  the  six 
candidates  having  the  next  highest  number  of  votes  to  be 
appointed.  In  1869  the  Board  of  Education  was  organized 
on  the  same  basis,  with  seven  elected  members  and  five 
appointed  ones.  All  of  these  arrangements  in  New  York 
and  Boston  have,  however,  been  abolished. 

A  system  of  cumulative  voting  has  been  adopted  in  the 
election  of  English  school  boards.  Under  this  system  each 
voter  has  a  number  of  votes  equal  to  the  number  of  members 
to  be  elected ;  and  these  votes  he  may  cumulate  on  one  can- 
didate, or  distribute  as  he  chooses  among  several  candidates. 
The  same  method  is  followed  in  electing  the  members  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  Illinois. 

Various  elaborate  schemes  of  proportional  representation 


382  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

have  been  devised,  and  some  practical  experiments  have  been 
made  in  Belgium  and  Switzerland.  None  of  them,  however, 
have  been  wholly  satisfactory.  The  principal  objections  to 
all  suggested  plans  for  minority  and  proportional  representa- 
tion is  that  they  render  strict  party  discipline  more  necessary, 
and  so  increase  the  power  of  the  party  machine  and  dimin- 
ish the  power  of  the  independent  voter. 

In  Prussia  and  Austria  the  voters  are  divided  into  three 
classes :  the  large  taxpayers,  the  middle  taxpayers,  and  the 
small  taxpayers,  each  of  which  elects  one-third  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  municipal  councils.  The  cities  of  Hamburg  and 
Bremen  have  also  elaborate  systems  of  class  representation 
in  the  election  of  their  governing  councils,  under  which  the 
merchants,  the  landowners,  and  the  artisans,  have  each  their 
own  distinct  representatives.  In  Budapest  one-half  of  the 
council  are  chosen  by  the  1200  largest  taxpayers. 

The  most  general  legal  qualifications  for  members  of  mu- 
nicipal councils  are  age  and  residence,  with,  less  frequently, 
property  requirements.  The  residence  requirement  is  most 
strict  in  the  United  States,  where  the  aldermen  must  be 
resident  within  the  city,  and,  in  practice,  must  also  be  resident 
within  the  ward  from  which  they  are  elected.  In  France  all 
city  taxpayers  are  eligible,  even  if  not  residents  or  voters  ; 
but  the  number  of  non-resident  councillors  may  not  exceed 
one-fourth  of  the  total  membership.  In  Prussia  every  tax- 
payer is  a  voter,  and  as  such  is  qualified  for  membership  in 
the  council.  In  England,  any  local  taxpayer  who  resides 
within  fifteen  miles  of  the  borough  may  be  elected  to  the 
council  from  any  ward  in  the  borough.  In  Germany,  a  cer- 
tain proportion  of  the  council,  usually  one-half,  must  be 
property  owners  in  the  city  ;  while  in  Leipzig,  Dresden, 
Chemnitz,  and  some  other  cities,  the  law  requires  the  other 
half  to  be  chosen  from  those  who  are  not  property  owners. 
In  England,  a  special  property  qualification  was  required  of 
councillors  up  to  1869  ;  but  at  present  any  elector  is  eligible. 
In  the  United  States,  property  qualifications  were  general 
into  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  are  no 
longer  required. 


THE   COUNCIL  383 

POWERS   OF  MUNICIPAL   COUNCILS 

Powers  over  Organization 

The  powers  of  the  council  over  its  own  organization  and 
procedure  are  usually  subject  to  serious  limitations.  In 
France  and  England  municipal  councils  do  not  have  the 
power  of  determining  disputed  elections,  as  do  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  or  American  legislatures  ;  such  cases  are  decided 
in  France  by  the  administrative  courts,  and  in  England  by 
the  judicial  courts.  In  America  municipal  charters  fre- 
quently contain  the  provision  that  the  council  "shall  be  the 
judge  of  the  qualifications  and  elections  of  its  members." 
But  by  the  common  law  the  courts  have  jurisdiction  over 
such  election  cases  ;  and  the  general  rule  of  interpretation 
is  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  remains  unless  it  appears 
with  unequivocal  certainty  that  the  legislature  intended  to 
take  it  away.  Language  like  that  quoted  above  is  con- 
strued to  establish  the  council  only  as  a  primary  tribunal, 
but  does  not  establish  its  exclusive  control,  or  prohibit  the 
courts  from  investigating  and  deciding  a  case.  But  if  the 
charter  provision  gives  the  council  "  sole,"  or  "  fixed,"  power 
of  deciding  elections,  or  if  it  is  specified  that  no  court  shall 
take  cognizance  of  such  election  cases  by  quo  warranto,  this 
would  doubtless  be  sufficient  to  divest  the  judicial  tribunals 
of  their  jurisdiction.1 

In  Europe  the  council  in  most  cases  elects  its  own  presid- 
ing officer ;  but  in  America  he  is  often  chosen  independently 
of  the  council.  In  Chicago,  and  in  most  small  cities,  the 
mayor,  elected  by  popular  vote,  presides.  In  other  large 
American  cities  there  is  usually  a  president  of  the  council, 
elected  by  the  whole  city. 

So,  too,  in  matters  of  procedure  there  are  frequent  items 
governed  by  general  or  special  laws.  In  France  and  Great 
Britain  four  regular  sessions  of  the  council  each  year  are 
prescribed ;  but  this  does  not  prevent  many  additional  ses- 
sions. American  charters  generally  contain  provisions  gov- 

1  Dillon,  Municipal  Corporations,  I,  284-285. 


384  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

erning  the  method  of  voting  in  the  council,  the  publication 
of  proposed  ordinances,  and  the  like.  In  general,  however, 
questions  of  procedure  may  be  regulated  by  the  council. 

General  or  Legislative  Powers 

There  is  a  fundamental  difference  in  the  method  of  con- 
ferring authority  or  powers  on  the  municipal  councils  of  the 
English-speaking  countries,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  con- 
tinental European  countries  on  the  other.  In  the  former 
the  powers  conferred  are  enumerated  in  detail ;  in  the  latter 
there  is  always  a  general  grant  of  authority,  followed,  how- 
ever, by  an  enumeration  of  limitations  and  restrictions  on  the 
exercise  of  certain  powers. 

Thus,  in  France  the  municipal  code  contains  a  classifica- 
tion of  the  attributions  of  the  council  in  five  groups,  accord- 
ing to  the  degree  of  independent  action  conferred.  The 
first  class  are  those  matters  over  which  the  council  has  full 
and  final  authority.  Before  1884  there  were  a  few  excep- 
tional matters  of  this  nature,  but  the  municipal  code  of  that 
year  changed  the  exception  to  the  basal  rule  by  the  phrase 
"the  municipal  council  regulates  by  its  deliberations  the 
affairs  of  the  commune."  Under  this  provision,  the 
decisions  of  the  council  are  definitive,  unless  there  is  some 
express  provision  to  the  contrary.  But  such  resolutions 
must  be  submitted  to  the  prefect,  and  may  be  held  for  a 
month  to  determine  whether  or  not  they  come  under  any  of 
the  other  classes.  This  general  grant  of  authority  is  a  fact 
of  the  utmost  importance.  It  is  true  that  many  matters 
are  directly  subject  to  the  approval  or  direct  orders  of 
the  higher  authorities,  while  the  control  over  the  finances 
imposes  a  large  limitation  upon  the  action  of  the  council. 
But,  at  the  same  time,  the  council  has  an  unlimited  right  of 
the  initiative,  together  with  full  authority  to  enter  into  new 
fields  of  activity  without  waiting  for  specific  legislation. 

The  remaining  groups  of  functions  are  those  in  which  the 
decision  of  the  council  is  not  final.  One  class  of  delibera- 
tions, including  such  matters  as  the  alienation  of  municipal 


THE   COUNCIL  385 

property,  the  making  of  long  leases,  the  granting  of  fran- 
chises, and,  as  has  been  seen,  the  annual  budget,  must  be 
submitted  to  the  prefect  or  other  authority  .for  examination 
and  approval.  Another  class  is  that  of  deliberations,  entirely 
subordinated,  in  which  field  the  higher  authorities  may  take 
the  initiative  and  require  the  performance  of  certain  duties  by 
the  council.  The  principal  items  are  obligatory  expenditures 
in  the  budget,  assessments  for  taxation,  and  the  management 
of  elections,  in  considering  which  the  council  acts,  not  as 
a  local  authority,  but  as  an  agent  of  the  central  govern- 
ment. The  remaining  two  groups  include  votes  of  advice 
and  expressions  of  opinion  by  the  councils  in  matters  over 
which  they  have  no  positive  authority.1 

Prussian  municipal  laws  also  fail  to  enumerate  the  powers 
of  the  council.  That  body  is  given,  in  the  widest  sense, 
the  right  of  control  over  the  administration,  and  is  the 
organ  for  expressing  the  will  of  the  city.2  Moreover, 
the  resolutions  of  the  council  are,  as  a  rule,  subject  to  no 
examination  by  the  higher  authorities ;  although  if  the 
city  magistrates  doubt  the  legality  of  a  measure,  they  have 
power  to  delay  its  execution  until  it  has  been  examined  and 
reported  on  by  the  provincial  officials.  Neither  in  France  or 
Prussia,  nor  generally  in  continental  Europe,  do  the  munici- 
pal councils  have  any  authority  over  the  police  or  police 
regulations.  The  principal  exception  to  tnis  rule  is  in 
Belgium,  where  the  councils  have  the  authority  to  enact 
internal -police  regulations,  subject,  of  course,  to  the  general 
laws.  The  decisions  of  the  Belgian  councils  are  subject  to 
examination,  and,  in  many  cases,  require  the  approval  of 
higher  authorities ;  but  this  control  is  exercised,  not  by  the 
representative  of  the  central  government,  as  in  France,  but 
by  the  executive  committee  of  the  province,  a  body  chosen 
by  the  elected  provincial  diet. 

In  England,  as  has  been  stated,  the  definite  subjects  over 
which  the  municipal  councils  have  authority  are  enumerated 
in  great  detail.  At  the  present  time  the  most  important 

1  Ducrocq,  Cours  de  droit  administratif,  I,  377-410. 

2  Leidig,  Preussisches  Stadtrecht,  pp.  102,  105. 
2c 


386  MUNICIPAL   ORGANIZATION 

powers  are  conferred  by  means  of  general  statutes,  and  some 
indication  of  the  scope  of  their  authority  is  given  in  the  fol- 
lowing facts  concerning  some  of  these  statutes.  The  Mu- 
nicipal Corporations  Act  of  1882  is  concerned  mainly  with  the 
organization  of  borough  councils,  and  has  only  two  compara- 
tively brief  chapters  on  the  powers  of  the  councils.  One  of 
these  regulates  the  administration  of  justice  ;  and  the  other, 
the  police  department.  They  together  include  47  clauses, 
covering  23  pages  in  the  statute  book,  out  of  a  total  of  96 
pages  for  the  entire  act.1  But  by  far  the  most  important 
statute  conferring  powers  on  municipal  councils  is  the  Public 
Health  Act  of  1875.  This  act  contains  343  clauses,  and 
covers  152  pages  in  the  statute  book.  The  headings  of  the 
principal  divisions  will  indicate  the  powers  conferred :  — 

Sanitary  Provisions :  130  clauses,  covering  39  pages. 

Sewerage  and  Drainage. 

Scavenging  and  Cleansing. 

Water  Supply. 

Regulation  of  Cellars,  Dwellings,  and  Lodging-houses. 

OffensiveXTrades. 

Infectious  Diseases  and  Hospitals. 

Prevention  of  Epidemic  Diseases. 
Local  Government  Provisions :  29  clauses,  covering  11  pages. 

Highways  and  Streets,  including  Street  Lighting. 

Public  Pleasure  Grounds. 

Markets  and  Slaughter-houses. 

Police  Regulations,  referring  to  the  Town  Police  Clauses  Act  of 

1847,  which  contains  72  clauses,  covering  21  pages. 
General  Provisions :  34  clauses,  covering  13  pages. 

Contracts. 

Purchase  of  Lands. 

Arbitration. 

Officers. 

By-laws. 
Hating  and  Borrowing  Powers :  44  clauses,  covering  21  pages. 

Other,  general  statutes  indicating  the  powers  of  borough 
councils,  which  must  be  studied  for  a  comprehensive  knowl- 
edge of  their  authority,  are  the  Tramways  Acts,  Baths  Acts, 
Libraries  Acts,  and  Allotments  Acts ;  while  for  all  of  these 

i4&-46Vict.,  ch.  60. 


THE  COUNCIL  387 

there  is  a  mass  of  supplementary  and  amending  acts.  Fur- 
thermore there  is  the  extensive  legislation  on  poor  relief  and 
education,  conferring  authority  on  the  poor  law  boards  and 
school  boards. 

Not  all  of  the  powers  enumerated  thus  in  detail  may  be 
exercised  by  the  councils  entirely  at  their  own  pleasure.  In 
many  cases  the  powers  are  mandatory,  while  in  others  the 
acts  are  permissive  in  nature.  The  mandatory  provisions 
may  be  enforced  by  actions  in  the  courts ;  while  the  Local 
Government  Board  and  other  central  authorities  have  powers 
of  compulsion.  In  undertaking  to  perform  a  permissive 
function,  too,  a  council  must  secure  the  approval  of  the 
Local  Government  Board  in  a  provisional  order,  which  is 
afterward  formally  confirmed  by  the  passage  of  a  Provi- 
sional Order  Act  through  Parliament.  These  are  in  form 
much  the  same  as  the  special  statutes  of  American  legisla- 
tures ;  but  they  are  all  based  on  general  principles  laid  down 
in  a  general  statute,  and  the  practical  control  is  exercised  by 
an  expert  authority,  while  the  parliamentary  action  is  purely 
formal.  There  is,  however,  a  considerable  amount  of  dis- 
tinctly special  legislation  enacted,  particularly  for  London 
and  some  of  the  other  large  cities,  when  the  councils  wish 
additional  powers.  For  such  cases  there  is  a  definite  method 
of  procedure,  by  which  the  council  makes  application  for  the 
authority  desired,  public  notice  is  given,  and  a  thorough 
public  examination  of  the  matter  is  held  by  the  Private  Bill 
Office,  before  the  opening  of  Parliament. 

In  the  United  States  also  the  system  of  enumerated  powers 
is  followed,  and  here  it  results  in  a  much  more  extensive 
mass  of  legislation.  This  is  due  in  part  to  judicial  action. 
The  ruling  of  the  courts  has  been  that  municipal  corpora- 
tions in  their  public  capacity  possess  such  powers,  and  such 
only,  as  are  expressly  granted  by  statute,  and  such  as  may 
be  implied  as  essential  to  carry  into  effect  those  which  are 
expressly  granted.1  "  It  is  a  general  and  undisputed  propo- 
sition of  law  that  a  municipal  corporation  possesses  and  can 
1  45  Ohio  State,  118. 


388  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

exercise  the  following  powers,  and  no  others :  first,  those 
granted  in  express  words  ;  second,  those  necessarily  or  fairly 
implied  in  or  incident  to  the  powers  expressly  granted ;  third, 
those  essential  to  the  declared  objects  and  purposes  of  the 
corporation  —  not  simply  convenient,  but  indispensable. 
Any  fair,  reasonable  doubt  concerning  the  existence  of 
power  is  resolved  by  the  courts  against  the  corporation,  and 
the  power  is  denied." 1  This  interpretation  of  strict  construc- 
tion in  connection  with  the  traditional  system  of  enumerated 
powers  has  tended  to  increase  the  mass  of  provisions  in  mu- 
nicipal charters,  since  every  particular  item  must  be  declared 
beyond  doubt.  The  mass  of  legislation  enacted  is,  moreover, 
necessarily  voluminous  from  the  fact  that  it  proceeds  from 
so  many  different  legislatures.  Each  state  enacts  laws  only 
for  the  cities  within  its  limits  ;  and  even  the  general  legisla- 
tion for  all  of  the  states  must  include  a  vastly  larger  amount 
than  that  for  England.  But  the  volume  of  legislation  speci- 
fying municipal  powers  is  still  further,  and  to  a  vast  extent 
unwarrantably,  increased  by  the  custom  of  American  legisla- 
tures of  enacting  special  statutes  for  all  of  the  more  impor- 
tant cities,  and  by  inserting  in  municipal  statutes  details  of 
municipal  organization  and  the  duties  of  administrative 
officers  and  departments. 

In  the  general  Municipal  Incorporation  Act  of  Illinois, 
the  powers  of  the  council  are  enumerated  under  ninety-six 
heads ;  the  law  of  Ohio  gives  fifty  different  subjects ;  the 
general  law  of  Pennsylvania  names  forty-six  purposes  for 
which  cities  of  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  classes  may 
enact  ordinances. 

Police  Powers.  —  The  most  important  class  of  ordinance 
powers  possessed  by  American  municipal  councils  are  those 
classed  under  the  head  of  the  police  power.  The  police 
power  is  the  governmental  power  possessed  by  the  state 
legislature  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  general  com- 
fort and  welfare  of  society,  and  as  such  may  be  delegated 
by  the  legislature  to  a  local  corporation.  But  the  nature 
1  Dillon,  Municipal  Corporations,  I,  145. 


THE   COUNCIL  389 

and  scope  of  this  power  has  never  been  subject  to  exact 
definition  and  limitation,  and  is  incapable  of  exact  descrip- 
tion. It  includes  the  protection  to  the  lives,  persons,  and 
health  of  the  people,  and  to  property.  The  powers  of  the 
legislatures  under  this  head  are  nowhere  defined,  and  the 
exercise  of  the  power  is  limited  only  by  the  decisions  of 
the  courts  in  applying  the  specific  restrictions  of  the  na- 
tional and  state  constitutions.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
powers  delegated  to  municipal  corporations  are  ordinarily 
specifically  enumerated,  with  an  added  general  provision 
authorizing  the  exercise  of  powers  necessary  to  preserve  the 
peace  and  good  order  of  the  community,  and  to  promote 
the  public  welfare.  The  general  grant,  however,  does  not 
authorize  ordinances  upon  any  subject  which  is  partially 
given  by  an  express  grant ;  and  where  nearly  all  the  ordi- 
nary powers  are  mentioned  specifically,  only  such  additional 
ones  can  be  exercised  under  a  general  grant  as  are  absolutely 
essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  community. 

Under  a  general  grant  of  police  power  the  following  func- 
tions have  been  held  to  be  properly  exercised  : 1  — 

1.  For  the  promotion  of  the  health  of  the  community  : 
the  regulation  of  markets  and  slaughter-houses  ;  the  prohi- 
bition of  swine  breeding  or  rice  cultivation  within  certain 
limits  ;  sanitary  regulations. 

2.  For  the  protection  of  the  public  morals  :  the  regula- 
tion of   the  traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors,  and  of  bawdy- 
houses  ;    the  prohibition  of   lewd  women  from  serving  in 
saloons  and  restaurants  or  loitering  on  the  streets. 

3.  For  the  promotion  of  personal  security  and  comfort  : 
ordinances  to  repress  and  restrain  assaults,  riots,  disorderly 
conduct,  unlawful  assemblies,  and  breaches  of  the  peace  ; 
to  punish  attempts  to  aid  prisoners  to  escape ;    to  regulate 
the  keeping   of   dogs,    requiring   the   use   of  muzzles,  and 
authorizing  police  officers  to  kill  dogs  found  at  large  and 
unmuzzled  ;  to  regulate  the  speed  of  railroad  trains  within 
the  corporate  limits ;  to  restrain  and  impound  stray  animals  ; 
to  provide  for  the  prevention  of  fires  ;  to  suppress  vagrancy  ,- 

1  Horr  and  Bemis,  Municipal  Police  Ordinances,  pp.  192-201. 


390  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

to  regulate  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath ;  to  regulate  the 
use  of  the  streets  ;  and  to  prohibit  deposits  of  rubbish  except 
at  designated  places. 

But  it  has  been  held  unlawful  under  the  general  police 
power  to  punish  assault  and  battery,  to  grant  the  privilege 
of  erecting  and  maintaining  toll  bridges,  to  require  cotton 
merchants  to  keep  a  record  of  their  sales,  to  order  the 
removal  of  buildings  held  to  be  within  the  street  line,  or  to 
levy  any  form  of  taxes. 

Health  Regulations.  —  The  power  of  caring  for  the  health 
of  the  community  includes,  generally,  the  power  to  enact 
ordinances  for  the  removal  of  offal,  the  cleaning  of  streets, 
the  location  and  use  of  cemeteries,  the  erection  and  main- 
tenance of  infectious  diseases  hospitals,  the  quarantine  of 
vessels  and  trains,  the  public  water  supply,  the  sewerage 
system,  the  purity  and  wholesomeness  of  food  and  drink  ; 
to  establish  markets,  and  to  regulate  the  conduct  of  all 
trades,  employments,  and  businesses  which  "tend  to  pollute 
the  air  or  the  earth."  Generally,  also,  boards  of  health 
may  be  (or  must  be)  organized  with  full  power  of  detailed 
supervision.  The  only  definite  restriction  on  the  power  to 
pass  ordinances  regulating  things  that  affect  health,  and  to 
provide  detailed  regulations  through  a  board  of  health,  is, 
that  the  ordinances  and  regulations  must  not  be  used  as  a 
cloak  for  other  kinds  of  regulation. 

Suppression  of  Nuisances.  —  Municipal  corporations  are, 
as  a  rule,  liberally  endowed  with  power  to  abate  and  prevent 
nuisances.  This  term  includes  all  conditions  which  are  det- 
rimental to  health,  dangerous  to  life,  or  productive  of  serious 
inconvenience.  The  power  is,  however,  subject  to  strict 
judicial  control.  It  can  be  exercised  only  when  the  act  or 
thing  is  an  actual  nuisance.  The  municipal  corporation 
cannot  make  a  thing  a  nuisance  by  declaring  that  it  is  one, 
and  ordinarily  there  must  be  a  judicial  determination  that 
the  thing  complained  of  is  a  nuisance ;  but  the  municipality 
may  be  given  power  to  abate  nuisances  summarily.  The 


THE  COUNCIL  391 

following  have  been  held  to  be  nuisances :  articles  exposed 
for  sale  which  are  unfit  for  use ;  public  exhibitions  of  stud- 
horses ;  deposits  of  rubbish ;  smoke  from  chimneys ;  houses 
of  ill-fame ;  swine  running  at  large ;  keeping  swine.  Other 
conditions,  which  are  not  nuisances  per  se,  may  become  such 
under  special  circumstances.  Such  are  a  blacksmith's  shop, 
pigpen,  or  cow-stable  in  proximity  to  dwelling-houses,  and 
cemeteries.  In  order  to  establish  the  "nuisance"  character 
of  this  latter  class,  it  must  appear  that  they  cause  some 
positive  inconvenience,  damage,  discomfort,  or  menace  to  life 
or  health. 

Licenses.1  —  The  power  to  license  occupations  and  amuse- 
ments must  be  plainly  conferred  or  it  cannot  be  exercised  by 
a  municipal  corporation.  A  license  may  be  either  a  police 
regulation  or  a  tax.  If  the  former,  it  must  be  for  the 
purpose  of  preventing  some  threatened  evil,  and  must  not 
exceed  in  amount  a  sum  sufficient  to  cover  the  expenses  of 
issuing  the  license  and  of  police  supervision.  In  the  latter 
case  its  validity  is  governed  by  the  principles  governing 
taxation. 

Fire  Prevention.  —  A  municipal  corporation  in  the  exer- 
cise of  its  powers  to  protect  the  lives  and  property  of  its 
citizens,  and  without  express  grant,  may  take  all  reasonable 
steps  to  prevent  the  rise  and  spread  of  conflagrations.  It 
may  prescribe  fire  limits,  and  prohibit  the  construction  of 
wooden  buildings  within  such  limits;  in  most  cases  this 
power  is  inherent  in  the  corporation,  but  in  Pennsylvania, 
Iowa,  and  Texas  it  has  been  held  necessary  to  secure  an 
express  grant.  Generally,  this  power  cannot  be  so  inter- 
preted as  to  authorize  the  city  to  tear  down  existing  build- 
ings, unless  they  are  in  unusually  bad  condition;  but  the 
city  is  authorized  to  prevent  the  erection  of  buildings  already 
contracted  for,  even  if  the  foundations  have  been  laid.  Re- 
pairs of  an  ordinary  character  on  buildings  cannot  be  pro- 
hibited. As  a  means  of  preventing  the  spread  of  fires,  the 

1  Elliott,  Law  of  Public  Corporations,  pp.  89  ff. 


392  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

purchase  of  fire-engines   may  be  made  by  a  municipality, 
without  express  power. 

Local  Courts.  —  By  the  common  law,  municipal  corpora- 
tions have  power  to  establish  courts  for  the  purpose  of  deter- 
mining controversies  of  limited  and  local  importance,  and 
such  courts  are  either  authorized  or  directly  established  in 
modern  municipal  charters  and  laws.  The  jurisdiction  of 
these  municipal  courts  ordinarily  extends  to  the  enforcement 
of  municipal  ordinances  and  the  recovery  of  penalties  for 
breaches  thereof,  and  to  controversies  between  individuals 
involving  only  a  small  amount.  They  are  often  empowered 
to  determine  civil  suits,  when  the  amount  involved  does  not 
exceed  $500,  and  when  title  to  land  is  not  involved.  The 
procedure  in  municipal  courts  is  ordinarily  of  a  summary 
nature  ;  and  the  constitutional  right  to  a  jury  trial  has  never 
been  understood  to  apply  to  violations  of  city  ordinances. 

Streets  and  Highways.  —  The  state  legislature  has  perma- 
nent authority  over  the  streets  and  highways  of  a  city,  and 
may  delegate  this  power  to  municipal  corporations.  But 
the  legislature  cannot  prevent  the  use  of  streets  for  proper 
purposes.  Ordinarily,  the  control  over  city  streets  is  given 
to  the  municipality. 

An  abutting  property  owner  has  certain  rights  and  inter- 
ests in  the  streets  in  addition  to  the  rights  of  the  general 
public.  He  is  dependent  on  them  for  sewer,  water,  and 
gas  connections;  he  has  to  pay  for  these  connections,  and 
also  has  to  contribute  toward  the  cost  of  sidewalks  and  pave- 
ments. The  special  rights  of  the  property  owner  are  prop- 
erty rights,  and  as  such  are  under  the  protection  of  the 
United  States  Constitution  against  violation  even  by  the 
state  legislature,  whether  the  fee  of  the  street  is  in  the  lot 
owner  or  in  the  city. 

The  extent  of  municipal  control  over  the  streets  is  limited 
to  the  powers  granted  in  the  charter  or  general  law,  or  that 
necessary  to  effectuate  that  which  is  granted.  The  usual 
powers  are  to  establish  alignment,  to  grade,  to  repair,  and 


THE  COUNCIL  393 

to  pave.  The  power  to  grade  implies  the  power  to  raise  or 
lower  materially  portions  of  a  street  in  order  to  facilitate 
traffic.  Power  to  repair  does  not  include  power  to  lay  new 
pavement  or  to  macadamize  a  road.  Power  to  pave,  how- 
ever, includes  power  to  grade,  to  provide  gutters  and  curb- 
stones, and  even  sidewalks. 

As  part  of  the  general  police  power,  municipal  corpora- 
tions have  the  power  to  protect  and  guard  the  streets  from 
injury.  They  have  the  right  to  regulate  traffic  and  heavy 
loads,  to  protect  trees,  to  regulate  and  prevent  obstructions. 
The  right  to  compel  property  owners  to  remove  snow  is, 
however,  not  always  granted  to  municipal  authorities.  On 
the  other  hand,  express  grants  are  necessary  to  entitle  a 
municipal  corporation  to  authorize  such  obstructions  as 
steam  or  street  railways,  telegraph  or  other  poles,  and 
underground  pipes  for  gas,  water,  or  sewers.  Where  such 
authorization  is  given,  it  may  be  on  terms  and  conditions, 
and  these  conditions  will  be  enforced  by  the  courts. 

Schools  and  Charities.  —  Municipal  corporations  may  also 
be  made  the  agent  of  the  state  for  administering  the  educa- 
tional and  poor  relief  system.  Special  local  authorities  are, 
however,  often  created,  with  powers  more  or  less  inde- 
pendent of  the  municipal  councils.  These  powers  of  school 
boards  are  purely  statutory. 

Taxation,  Special  Assessments,  and  Power  of  Eminent  Do- 
main. —  The  power  of  taxation  is  an  attribute  of  sovereignty  ; 
and  in  contemplation  of  law  it  is  always  imposed  by  the  state, 
although  it  may  act  through  the  agency  of  a  municipal  corpo- 
ration. Most  municipal  corporations  have  received  the 
power  to  levy  taxes  for  certain  purposes.  Ordinarily  this 
power  is  conferred  in  express  terms,  but  it  may  be  implied  ; 
when  a  municipality  is  expressly  empowered  to  borrow  money, 
for  example,  it  has  implied  authority  to  levy  a  tax  to  meet 
the  obligation.  But  the  mere  fact  of  incorporation  does  not 
carry  with  it  any  power  of  taxation.  The  legislature  may 
confer  the  power  of  taxation  subject  to  such  limitations  (as 


394  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

to  purposes,  rate,  and  objects)  as  it  deems  expedient,  but 
cannot  confer  any  greater  power  than  the  state  itself  pos- 
sesses, and  must  also  observe  the  limitations  of  the  state  con- 
stitution. The  power  cannot  be  granted  in  perpetuity,  but 
may  be  revoked  at  any  time.  The  power  can  be  legally  ex- 
ercised for  public  purposes  only. 

Expenses  for  making  local  improvements,  such  as  grad- 
ing and  paving  streets,  constructing  drains,  sewers,  and  the 
like,  are  very  generally  met,  in  whole  or  in  part,  not  by  a  gen- 
eral tax,  but  by  special  assessments  authorized  to  be  made 
upon  the  persons  or  property  benefited  or  deemed  to  be  bene- 
fited. Such  special  assessments  are  now  clearly  recognized 
to  be  within  the  power  of  the  legislature  to  authorize,  but 
before  a  municipality  may  exercise  this  power,  it  must  show 
legislative  authority  therefor.  Authority  to  levy  special 
assessments,  even  when  duly  granted  by  the  state,  does  not 
include  authority  to  confiscate  property  for  non-payment  of 
the  assessments,  without  due  process  of  law  or  without  com- 
pensation to  the  owner. 

The  power  of  eminent  domain  is  also  a  right  pertaining  to 
sovereignty,  but  it  may  be  delegated  to  either  public  or  pri- 
vate corporations.  Under  this  power  every  species  of  prop- 
erty may  be  taken,  the  fee  or  a  mere  easement  may  be  taken, 
and  a  city  may  be  authorized  to  condemn  lands  beyond  the 
corporate  limits.  But  property  may  be  taken  in  this  way 
only  for  a  public  use,  and  after  notice  and  upon  compensa- 
tion. Public  uses  for  which  it  has  been  legally  exercised 
are  :  public  roads  and  streets,  parks,  markets,  cemeteries, 
school  buildings,  water  and  gas  plants,  sewers,  almshouses 
and  other  public  buildings.  Property  already  appropriated 
to  a  public  use  cannot  be  taken  for  another  public  use  unless 
the  statute  clearly  confers  authority  to  make  the  second 
seizure. 

Property.  —  In  addition  to  the  governmental  powers  of 
municipal  corporations,  they  also  possess  certain  corporate  or 
private  powers.  Such  powers,  however,  must  have  some 
relation  to  their  governmental  duties.  The  most  important 


THE  COUNCIL  395 

power  of  this  kind  is  the  right  to  purchase  and  hold  private 
property  ;  and  it  is  distinctly  settled  that  municipal  corpora- 
tions have  this  power  (but  only  for  municipal  uses),  and  they 
will  be  protected  in  their  ownership  of  such  property  to  the 
same  extent  as  a  private  owner.  This  private  property  of  a 
municipality  must  be  carefully  distinguished  from  the  public 
property.  The  latter  (including  the  streets,  sewers,  etc.)  is 
fully  under  legislative  control,  and  the  municipality  is  not 
liable  to  individuals  for  negligence  in  its  care.  But  a  mu- 
nicipality is  liable  to  individuals  for  negligence  in  the  man- 
agement of  its  private  property,  and  at  the  same  time 
is  protected  in  its  possession  by  the  courts,  and  cannot  be 
deprived  of  it  without  compensation,  even  by  the  legislature.1 
In  a  recent  case  in  which  it  was  maintained  that  a  ceme- 
tery was  to  be  considered  as  private  property  of  the  city,  the 
judge  cited  as  similar  instances  the  waterworks,  parks,  mar- 
kets, hospital,  and  library.  "  In  establishing  all  these  the 
city  (Boston)  has  not  acted  strictly  as  an  agent  of  the  state 
government  for  the  accomplishment  of  general  public  or 
political  purposes,  but  with  special  reference  to  the  benefit  of 
its  own  inhabitants."2  So  the  rights  which  a  municipality 
acquires  under  the  grant  of  power  to  build  wharves  or  to 
lease  a  ferry  franchise  are  held  to  be  private  rights.  Gas, 
water,  and  electric  light  plants  may  similarly  be  held,  cer- 
tainly if  authorized  by  the  legislature  ;  and  in  several  states  8 
power  to  provide  for  "  lighting  the  streets  "  or  "  furnishing 
the  city  with  water  "  will  authorize  a  city  to  construct  its  own 
plant.  But  it  has  been  held  by  a  South  Carolina  court  that 
power  to  light  the  city  streets  does  not  give  the  municipality 
authority  to  furnish  private  consumers  with  light. 

Miscellaneous  Corporate  Powers.  —  Unless  restricted  by 
charter  or  law,  a  municipality  has  implied  power  to  make 
such  contracts  as  are  reasonably  necessary  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  into  effect  the  object  of  its  creation.  Such  contracts 
may  be  for  a  term  of  years  extending  beyond  the  life  of  the 

1  F.  J.  Goodnow,  Municipal  Home  Rule,  ch.  9.  2  58  Mass.  609. 

8  Indiana,  West  Virginia,  Michigan,  New  Jersey. 


396  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

council,  but  such  a  contract  must  not  preclude  the  council 
from  exercising  its  legislative  powers,  create  a  perpetuity  or 
monopoly,  or  constitute  an  absolute  surrender  of  the  city's 
control  over  the  subject-matter  of  the  contract.  It  is  well 
settled  that  a  municipal  corporation  cannot,  without  express 
authority,  grant  exclusive  franchises  or  privileges,  such  as  the 
right  to  put  mains,  pipes,  hydrants,  or  rails  in  the  streets. 
The  legislature  alone  has  this  power,  and  if  there  is  any  reason- 
able doubt  as  to  whether  or  not  an  exclusive  franchise  has 
been  authorized  or  conferred,  the  doubt  is  resolved  against 
the  party  claiming  such  a  grant. 

Municipal  corporations  have  implied  authority  to  issue 
warrants  or  vouchers  for  money  due  by  the  corporation.  The 
power  to  borrow  money,  however,  must  be  conferred  by 
express  authority,  or  result  as  an  incident  to  an  express 
power,  coupled  with  the  imposition  of  duties  which  are 
incapable  of  performance  without  the  power  to  borrow.  In 
the  case  of  city  corporations,  express  power  to  borrow  carries 
with  it  implied  power  to  issue  negotiable  bonds  ;  although 
the  opposite  rule  prevails  in  regard  to  counties,  townships, 
and  school  districts.  Such  negotiable  bonds  may  be  issued 
only  to  raise  money  for  public  purposes  :  paving  streets,  con- 
structing waterworks,  supporting  public  schools,  constructing 
public  buildings,  acquiring  an  electric  light  plant,  or  to  fur- 
nish aid  in  the  construction  of  railways ;  the  last-named 
purpose,  however,  is  prohibited  in  some  state  constitutions. 
Bonds  may  not  be  issued  to  promote  private  manufacturing 
enterprises  in  the  city,  as,  for  example,  to  build  a  dam  to 
furnish  water  power  for  a  paper  mill. 

Administrative  Powers 

The  legislative  powers  of  municipal  councils  involve 
a  considerable  degree  of  control  over  the  administrative 
officials,  since  they  lay  down  the  rules  which  the  admin- 
istrative officials  must  carry  into  effect.  There  is,  how- 
ever, room  for  wide  variations  in  the  extent  to  which  the 
councils  have  power  to  organize  the  administration,  select 
the  officials,  and  direct  them  in  the  details  of  their  work. 


THE   COUNCIL  397 

In  this  field  the  English  municipal  councils  have  the 
largest  scope  of  authority.  They  have  entire  charge  of 
municipal  administration ;  they  distribute  the  work  of  de- 
partmental management  and  supervision  to  standing  commit- 
tees selected  from  among  their  own  members,  which  they 
organize  and  constitute  as  they  please  ;  they  appoint  and 
remove  all  officials,  who  act  under  the  immediate  direction  of 
the  council  committees.  The  general  laws  require  the  crea- 
tion of  a  Watch  Committee  to  have  charge  of  the  police,  and 
also  of  a  School  Attendance  Committee  in  boroughs  which 
have  no  school  boards  ;  but  in  all  other  respects  the  coun- 
cils can  create  whatever  committees  they  please,  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  councils  thus  take  an  active  part  in  the  work  of 
municipal  administration. 

In  other  countries,  the  municipal  councils  also  have  long 
lists  of  committees,  established  and  selected  by  the  councils; 
but  these  committees  do  not  have  direct  management  of  the 
administrative  departments,  and  the  councils  have  by  no 
means  the  same  control  over  the  administration  that  they 
have  in  England.  In  France  and  Germany,  the  administra- 
tive officials  (magistrates  and  adjoints)  are  chosen  by  the 
councils  ;  but  once  selected,  they  are,  to  a  large  extent,  inde- 
pendent of  the  councils.  In  Germany,  these  administrative 
officers,  as  a  rule,  form  a  board,  which  jointly  assigns  the 
different  members  to  various  departments,  and  has  general 
direction  over  the  administration.  In  France  and  Western 
Germany  the  assignment  of  the  adjoints  and  their  general 
direction  is  in  the  hands  of  the  mayor.  In  the  United  States, 
the  councils  have,  in  general,  still  less  influence  over  the 
administration.  The  organization  of  the  administrative  de- 
partments for  large  cities  is  generally  provided  in  the  charter, 
and  the  officials  are  mainly  appointed  by  the  mayor  or  elected 
by  popular  vote,  with  the  power  of  the  council  confined  to 
confirming  the  mayor's  appointments.  In  Illinois,  the  coun- 
cils have  the  power  of  organizing  new  departments  and  of 
selecting  the  method  of  making  appointments.  In  Pennsyl- 
vania cities  of  the  second  class  (Allegheny,  Pittsburg,  and 
Scranton),  the  councils  have  elected  the  heads  of  the  principal 


398  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

departments,  but  the  power  to  do  this  has  been  withdrawn 
by  the  legislation  of  1901. 

PEOCEDUBB   OF   MUNICIPAL   COUNCILS 

Although  so  often  considered  legislative  bodies,  municipal 
councils  differ  from  legislatures  for  larger  districts  in  having 
frequent  brief  sessions  instead  of  long  sessions  at  rare  inter- 
vals. In  Germany,  Great  Britain,  and  the  United  States, 
weekly  meetings  are  the  general  rule  in  the  large  cities ;  and 
fortnightly,  or  at  most  monthly,  intervals  separate  the  meet- 
ings in  the  smaller  cities.  In  France,  the  law  has  the  legisla- 
tive concept  of  the  council's  position,  shown  by  its  provision 
for  four  regular  meetings  in  each  year.  But  even  in  that 
country  the  councils  of  the  large  cities  hold  frequent  special 
sessions,  and  the  council  of  Paris  meets  from  eighty  to  ninety 
times  a  year. 

Generally  speaking,  members  of  municipal  councils  receive 
no  salary,  and  frequently  service  is  compulsory.  Both  these 
rules  were  laid  down  in  the  English  borough  charters  and 
in  the  early  American  charters.  In  England,  service  is  still 
unpaid,  and  officers  must  serve  or  pay  a  fine.  In  Germany 
the  principle  of  obligatory  unpaid  service  was  established  by 
the  Municipal  Corporations  Act  of  1808.  In  this  country, 
however,  the  element  of  compulsory  service  has  disappeared ; 
and  in  a  number  of  large  cities  the  members  of  municipal 
councils  receive  payment,  sometimes  at  a  per  diem  and 
sometimes  at  an  annual  rate.  In  New  York  the  members 
of  the  council  receive  $2000  a  year,  and  the  president  of 
the  council,  15000.  In  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  the  aldermen 
receive  $350  each.  In  Cincinnati  each  member  receives  $10 
for  each  session  at  which  he  is  present ;  and  in  New  Orleans, 
$20  for  each  regular  monthly  meeting,  if  he  has  attended 
all  special  meetings  during  the  month. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
ADMINISTRATIVE  OFFICIALS 

THE  administrative  machinery  presents  a  greater  variety 
among  different  cities  than  any  other  feature  of  municipal 
government.  Each  city  has  organized  its  own  officials  and 
departments  from  time  to  time  in  accordance  with  local 
needs  and  local  ideas;  and  it  is  impossible  to  present  any 
systematic  classification  of  administrative  organization.  A 
few  general  statements  may,  however,  be  made. 

In  France  and  Germany  the  number  of  officials  corre- 
sponding to  the  American  heads  of  departments  is  regulated 
by  general  laws,  and  varies  with  the  size  of  the  city.  The 
French  communes  have  each  a  mayor  and  one  or  more 
adjoints.  Communes  with  less  than  2500  population  have 
one  adjoint;  those  with  a  population  between  2500  and 
10,000,  two  adjoints,  and  an  additional  one  is  added  for  each 
25,000  population,  with  a  maximum  of  twelve  adjoints,  except 
in  Lyons,  where  there  are  seventeen,  and  in  Paris,  where 
this  title  is  not  used,  but  where  there  are  a  larger  number  of 
officials.  The  Prussian  laws  provide  for  a  burgomaster,  a 
deputy,  and  a  number  of  Schoffen  or  magistrates — two  in  com- 
munes of  less  than  2500  population,  six  in  cities  of  over  10,000, 
eight  in  cities  of  over  30,000,  ten  in  cities  of  over  60,000, 
and  two  additional  for  every  50,000  population  over  100,000. 
Thus  in  German  cities  the  number  is  greater  than  in  French 
cities.  Berlin  has  34;  Munich,  34;  Leipzig,  27;  Dresden,  32; 
and  Breslau,  26. 

The  corresponding  authorities  in  England  are  the  com- 
mittees of  the  councils,  and  the  number  of  these  is  deter- 
mined by  the  council  for  each  city  according  to  its  own 
judgment.  There  is  no  definite  rule  even  for  the  number  of 


400  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

committees;  Manchester  has  sixteen  committees,  and  Leeds 
fifteen.  A  list  of  the  committees  of  the  Leeds  council,  with 
the  number  of  subcommittees  in  each,  follows  :  — 

Watch  Committee five  subcommittees 

Finance  Committee two  subcommittees 

Parliamentary  Committee 

Property  Committee two  subcommittees 

Library  Committee four  subcommittees 

Waterworks  Committee three  subcommittees 

Highways  Committee two  subcommittees 

Tramways  Committee two  subcommittees 

Improvement  Committee two  subcommittees 

Sewerage  Committee 

Lighting  Committee two  subcommittees 

Markets  Committee three  subcommittees 

Sanitary  Committee five  subcommittees 

Gas  Committee five  subcommittees 

Baths  and  Cemeteries  Committee  .     .     .  three  subcommittees 

The  committees  of  Manchester  are:  art  gallery,  baths  and 
wash-houses,  cleansing,  finance,  gas,  general  purposes,  im- 
provements, markets,  parks  and  cemeteries,  highways,  public 
libraries,  rivers,  sanitary,  town  hall,  watch,  and  waterworks. 

In  American  cities  the  number  of  administrative  depart- 
ments is  subject  to  no  regular  rule,  nor  is  there  any  clear  dis- 
tinction between  administrative  and  technical  officials,  since 
many  of  the  latter  are  under  no  administrative  direction. 
The  New  York  charter  of  1897  provides  for  the  following 
eighteen  main  departments:  finance,  taxes  and  assessments, 
law,  police,  health,  fire,  building,  highways,  water  supply, 
bridges,  street  cleaning,  sewers,  parks,  docks  and  ferries, 
education,  charities,  correction,  and  public  buildings,  lighting, 
and  supplies.  But  there  are  about  a  score  of  other  officials 
and  boards  not  subordinated  to  any  one  of  these  departments. 
In  Chicago  there  are  departments  of  finance,  law,  public 
works,  health,  fire,  police,  elections,  education,  and  libraries, 
with  about  a  dozen  other  inspectors  and  superintendents, 
of  technical  branches.  Cleveland  has  ten  main  departments  : 
law,  public  works,  police,  fire,  accounts,  charities  and  correc- 
tion, parks,  elections,  education,  and  libraries  ;  and  these  in- 


ADMINISTRATIVE  OFFICIALS  401 

elude  most  of  the  municipal  officials.  Boston  has  the  follow- 
ing thirty-three  executive  city  departments:  board  of  assess- 
ors, fire  commissioner,  board  of  health,  city  hospital,  library 
trustees,  trustees  of  Mt.  Hope  Cemetery,  board  of  park 
commissioners,  board  of  commissioners  of  public  institutions, 
board  of  registrars  of  voters,  overseers  of  the  poor,  sinking 
fund  commissioners,  water  board,  city  auditor,  city  collector, 
city  engineer,  superintendent  of  ferries,  superintendent  of 
public  buildings,  superintendent  of  public  grounds,  inspector 
of  milk  and  vinegar,  inspector  of  provisions,  superintendent  of 
lamps,  superintendent  of  markets,  city  printer,  inspector 
of  buildings,  city  registrar,  sealer  of  weights  and  measures, 
city  surveyor,  superintendent  of  streets,  city  treasurer,  water 
registrar,  commissioner  of  wires,  corporation  counsel,  board 
of  statistics.  Besides  these,  there  are  the  board  of  street 
openings,  the  school  committee,  and  the  county  officers, 
elected  by  the  people  ;  and  the  police  board  and  the  rapid 
transit  commission,  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  state. 

In  addition  to  the  mayor  and  common  council,  Detroit  has 
twenty-six  boards  and  officials  :  a  board  of  estimates,  a  com- 
missioner of  sinking  funds,  a  city  clerk,  a  corporation  counsel, 
a  city  treasurer,  a  receiver  of  taxes,  three  city  assessors,  two 
market  clerks,  a  chief  accountant,  a  city  engineer,  a  boiler 
inspector,  three  building  inspectors,  a  board  of  education,  a 
board  of  library  commissioners  consisting  of  six  members,  a 
board  of  four  poor  commissioners  assisted  by  five  city  physi- 
cians, a  board  of  health  of  five  members  (comprising  also  a 
health  officer,  a  sanitary  engineer,  a  funeral  inspector,  a 
chemist  and  bacteriologist,  two  food  and  milk  inspectors, 
two  medical  inspectors  and  disinfectors,  a  superintendent  of 
contagious  diseases  bureau  and  vital  statistics,  two  quarantine 
inspectors,  and  four  plumbing  inspectors),  a  commissioner  of 
public  works,  a  commissioner  of  parks  and  boulevards,  six 
public  lighting  commissioners,  two  weighmasters,  two  pound- 
masters  and  wood  inspectors,  a  police  commissioner,  a  board 
of  four  water  commissioners,  a  board  of  four  fire  commis- 
sioners, and  a  superintendent  of  the  house  of  correction. 

The  Indianapolis  administrative  officers  in  1900  consisted 

2D 


402  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

of  a  city  clerk,  a  police  judge,  a  comptroller,  an  attorney, 
a  civil  engineer,  a  superintendent  of  streets,  two  sweeping 
and  sprinkling  inspectors,  a  custodian  of  the  city  hall,  a 
board  of  public  works  of  five  members,  four  commissioners 
of  public  parks  (whose  terms  expire  at  different  times),  a 
board  of  public  safety  of  three  members  (having  general 
charge  over  the  superintendent  of  police,  the  chief  of  the 
fire  department,  the  license  inspector,  and  the  building 
inspector),  a  board  of  public  health  and  charities  of  three 
members  (who  oversee  the  city  sanitarian,  the  six  sanitary 
inspectors,  the  milk  inspector,  the  meat  inspector,  the  city 
hospital,  and  the  city  dispensary),  a  bureau  of  assessments 
for  public  improvements,  and  a  board  of  school  commissioners 
consisting  of  five  members  whose  terms  expire  at  different 
times. 

In  St.  Louis  the  following  administrative  officials  are  elec- 
tive, and  hold  office  for  four  years :  the  comptroller,  the 
treasurer,  the  auditor,  the  register,  the  collector  of  revenue, 
the  marshal,  the  inspector  of  weights  and  measures,  the  board 
of  assessors  (consisting  of  a  president  and  ten  district  assess- 
ors), and  the  coroner.  There  are  also  the  following  additional 
boards  and  officials  :  the  board  of  public  improvements,  con- 
sisting of  a  president  and  five  department  commissioners 
(namely,  the  street  commissioner,  the  water  commissioner,  the 
harbor  and  wharf  commissioner,  the  park  commissioner,  and 
the  sewer  commissioner),  the  commissioner  of  public  buildings, 
the  supervisor  of  lighting,  the  commissioner  of  supplies,  the 
inspectors  of  boilers  and  elevators,  the  board  of  election  com- 
missioners, the  board  of  health  (consisting  of  the  mayor  ex 
officio,  the  health  commissioner,  the  president  of  the  council, 
the  police  commissioner,  two  appointed  commissioners,  and 
the  chief  sanitary  officer),  the  counsellor,  the  city  chemist,  the 
milk  inspector,  the  supervisor  of  plumbing  inspection, 
the  board  of  engineers  examiners,  the  board  of  appeals,  the 
board  on  charitable  institutions  of  five  members,  the  board 
of  directors  of  the  public  library  of  seven  members,  the  chief 
engineer  of  the  fire  department,  the  superintendent  of  the 
fire  and  police  telegraph  systems,  the  board  of  police  com- 


ADMINISTRATIVE   OFFICIALS  403 

missioners  of  four  members  and  the  mayor,  the  license  com- 
missioner, the  jailer,  and  the  board  of  education. 

The  administrative  officials  of  New  York  city  in  1901 
consist  of  :  five  borough  presidents ;  a  board  of  estimate 
and  apportionment  consisting  of  five  ex  officio  members ;  a 
comptroller,  having  general  supervision  of  the  auditing 
bureau,  the  bureau  for  the  collection  of  taxes  and  assessments 
and  water  rents,  and  the  bureau  of  city  revenue  and  markets ; 
a  city  chamberlain,  who  oversees  the  city  paymaster ;  two 
commissioners  of  accounts  ;  five  ex  officio  commissioners  of 
the  sinking  funds,  consisting  of  the  mayor,  comptroller, 
chamberlain,  president  of  the  council,  and  the  chairman  of 
the  finance  committee  of  the  board  of  aldermen  ;  a  depart- 
ment of  taxes  and  assessments,  consisting  of  a  president, 
four  commissioners,  and  fifty-six  deputy  tax  commissioners ; 
a  board  of  assessors,  including  a  president  and  four  assessors ; 
a  board  of  revision  of  assessments,  consisting  of  the  comp- 
troller, the  corporation  counsel,  and  the  president  of  the 
board  of  public  improvements  ;  a  board  of  public  improve- 
ments, consisting  of  a  president  and  six  commissioners? 
as  follows :  commissioners  of  bridges,  of  highways,  of  sewers, 
of  street  cleaning,  of  water  supply,  and  of  public  build- 
ings, lighting,  and  supplies;  a  law  department,  which  has 
general  charge  of  the  bureau  of  collecting  arrears  of  personal 
taxes,  the  bureau  for  the  recovery  of  penalties,  and  the 
bureau  of  street  openings  ;  a  health  department,  comprising 
a  president,  two  commissioners,  and  the  police  commissioner 
as  the  board,  and  the  superintendent  of  the  sanitary  bureau, 
the  chief  inspectors  of  sanitary  inspection,  of  contagious 
diseases,  of  food  inspection  and  offensive  trades,  and  of 
medical  school  inspection,  the  director  of  the  bacteriological 
laboratory,  and  the  registrar  of  records  as  executive  officers  ; 
a  board  of  education  of  nineteen  members  (delegates  from 
the  four  borough  school  boards)  ;  three  dock  and  ferry  com- 
missioners ;  three  park  commissioners,  each  with  an  assigned 
district ;  a  police  commissioner ;  a  commissioner  of  correc- 
tion; three  commissioners  of  public  charities;  a  fire  de- 
partment, over  which  there  is  a  commissioner  and  a  deputy 


404  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

commissioner,  a  fire  marshal  for  the  inspection  of  combus- 
tibles, and  a  chief  of  the  brigade;  three  commissioners  of 
buildings,  assigned  to  districts,  and  overseeing  the  five 
superintendents  of  buildings ;  a  bureau  of  licenses,  in 
charge  of  the  mayor's  marshal ;  a  board  of  city  record, 
consisting  of  three  ex  officio  members  and  a  supervisor; 
a  board  of  armory  commissioners,  consisting  of  the  mayor, 
the  president  of  the  department  of  taxes  and  assessments, 
the  commissioner  of  public  buildings,  lighting,  and  supplies, 
and  two  senior  ranking  officers  of  the  New  York  National 
Guard  in  the  city ;  a  bureau  of  municipal  statistics;  a  pound- 
master;  eleven  inspectors  and  ten  sealers  of  weights  and 
measures,  who  have  as  part  of  their  equipment  thirty-nine 
stations  for  weighing  coal ;  nine  municipal  art  commissioners; 
three  municipal  civil  service  commissioners  ;  a  board  for  the 
improvement  of  Atlantic  Avenue;  commissioners  for  St. 
Nicholas  Park,  Eleventh  Ward  Park,  Speedway  Park,  for 
appraising  damages  for  changes  of  grade  in  the  twenty-third 
and  twenty-fourth  wards,  for  estimating  the  cost  of  Colonial 
Park,  for  the  new  East  River  bridge,  and  for  the  New  York  and 
New  Jersey  bridge ;  twenty  city  police  magistrates  ;  twenty- 
three  municipal  justices ;  and  six  judges  of  the  city  court. 
Three  state  boards  —  the  tenement-house  commission  of  fif- 
teen members,  the  aqueduct  commission  of  four  members, 
the  mayor  and  the  comptroller,  and  the  rapid  transit  com- 
mission of  six  members,  the  mayor  and  the  comptroller  — 
also  have  authority  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

The  method  of  selecting  the  various  administrative  offi- 
cials is  next  to  be  considered.  In  England  the  council  com- 
mittees, in  Germany  the  magistrates,  and  in  France  the 
adjoints,  are  selected  by  the  councils.  In  the  United  States 
almost  every  imaginable  method  has  been  tried;  but  the  most 
prominent  methods  now  in  use  are  popular  election,  council 
election,  appointment  by  the  mayor,  and  appointment  by  the 
state.  In  most  cities,  several  of  the  officers  are  chosen  by 
popular  vote.  The  comptroller  and  treasurer  of  most  cities 
are  elective ;  and  in  many  places  police  judges,  assessors, 


ADMINISTRATIVE   OFFICIALS  405 

school  boards,  boards  of  public  works,  and  sometimes  other 
officials,  are  chosen  in  this  way.  Election  by  the  council  is 
still  used  to  a  considerable  extent,  especially  in  the  smaller 
cities.  In  Pawtucket,  R.I.,  the  council  selects  the  treas- 
urer, judge  of  probate,  city  solicitor,  city  auditor,  collector 
of  taxes,  highways  commissioners,  and  overseers  of  the  poor. 
Municipal  appointments  by  the  governor  or  state  legislature 
are  comparatively  rare.  The  principal  cases  are  police 
boards  in  some  of  the  large  cities  ;  and  less  frequently  excise 
and  health  officials  are  chosen  in  this  way.  The  larger  num- 
ber of  officers  are,  however,  appointed  by  the  mayor,  with 
the  consent  of  the  council.  In  Philadelphia  the  confirmation 
must  be  by  a  three-fifths  vote  of  the  Select  Council.  This 
system  tends  to  divided  responsibility,  and  also  often  pro- 
duces a  deadlock  between  the  two  branches  of  the  appointing 
power.  The  charter  of  Albany  provided  that  the  mayor's 
selections  should  stand,  unless  rejected  by  a  majority  of  all 
the  members  of  the  council  within  two  meetings  after  the 
appointment  is  made.  The  more  recent  tendency  in  large 
American  cities  is  to  give  the  mayor  absolute  power  of 
appointing  administrative  officials  ;  and  this  system  is  found 
in  New  York,  Boston,  Buffalo,  Indianapolis,  Rochester,  Syra- 
cuse, Albany,  Troy,  and  some  smaller  cities. 

In  general  there  are  few  special  legal  qualifications  re- 
quired for  the  persons  appointed  as  administrative  officials. 
Police  judges  in  large  American  cities  must,  in  some  cases,, 
have  had  experience  in  law  practice,  but  such  requirements, 
for  other  offices  are  rare.  The  system  of  Prussia,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  characterized  by  the  requirement  that  a  por- 
tion of  the  magistrates  (about  one-half)  shall  be  persons 
who  have  taken  a  long  course  of  special  professional  train- 
ing for  administrative  officials. 

In  England  the  members  of  council  committees  receive  no 
salaries,  and  the  ad  joints  in  French  cities  are  also  unpaid. 
In  Prussia  the  professionally  trained  magistrates  are  salaried 
officials,  those  of  Berlin  (excluding  the  mayor)  at  from  7,000 
to  16,500  marks.  In  large  American  cities  administrative 
officers,  except  members  of  school  boards,  library  trustees, 


406  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

and,  in  some  cases,  park  commissioners,  as  a  rule  receive 
salaries.  Unsalaried  officials  in  all  cases  devote  only  a  part 
of  their  time  to  the  municipal  work,  and  there  is  always 
a  salaried  technical  manager  acting  under  their  direction. 
The  salaried  officers,  on  the  other  hand,  devote  their  entire 
time  to  the  municipal  administration. 

The  term  of  service  of  administrative  officials  is  longest 
in  Germany.  In  Prussia  the  unsalaried  magistrates  are 
elected  for  six-year  terms,  and  the  salaried  magistrates  for 
twelve  years.  In  England  and  France  the  terms  of  corre- 
sponding officials  are  limited  to  their  term  as  members  of  the 
municipal  council,  which  is,  respectively,  three  and  four 
years.  But  in  all  of  these  countries  reelection  is  frequent. 
In  America  the  salaried  administrative  officers  have  terms 
which  vary  from  one  to  a  maximum  of  ten  years,  subject  in 
a  few  cases  to  removal  at  the  discretion  of  the  appointing 
authority.  Members  of  municipal  boards  usually  hold  office 
for  comparatively  long  terms,  and  do  not  all  retire  at  one 
time.  In  some  cities  (for  example,  in  Cleveland)  the  terms 
of  the  department  heads  correspond  with  that  of  the  appoint- 
ing mayor  ;  in  other  cities  there  is  no  agreement  between 
the  terms  of  the  appointing  and  the  appointed  officials. 
Thus  in  New  York,  under  the  charter  of  1897,  the  mayor 
was  elected  for  a  four-year  term,  but  most  of  the  department 
heads  had  six-year  terms,  although  they  might  be  removed 
during  the  first  six  months  of  the  mayor's  term. 

The  relative  merits  of  boards  and  single  commissioners 
for  directing  a  particular  field  of  municipal  administra- 
tion is  an  important  question  of  municipal  organization. 
Great  Britain  uses  a  board  system  in  the  council  com- 
mittees ;  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  are 
boards  of  unpaid  members,  exercising  only  supervision, 
while  in  every  case  there  is  a  single  technical  super- 
intendent at  the  head  of  the  various  divisions  of  municipal 
activity.  In  France  the  single  commissioner  system  is 
clearly  followed  in  every  case,  in  the  person  of  particular 
adjoints.  In  Germany  there  are  joint  committees  composed 
of  councilmen  and  magistrates  for  each  department ;  but 


ADMINISTRATIVE  OFFICIALS  407 

these  are  mainly  advisory  bodies,  and  the  directing  author- 
ity is  the  single  magistrate  who  acts  as  chairman  of  the 
committee.  Only  in  the  United  States  has  the  system  of 
salaried  boards  been  developed  to  any  extent.  The  present 
tendency  in  this  country,  however,  is  toward  a  single  commis- 
sioner system,  but  with  important  exceptions,  some  of 
which  are  based  on  distinctions  in  the  nature  of  the  work. 
Thus,  nearly  everywhere  the  schools  are  under  the  super- 
vision of  a  board  ;  in  this  case,  however,  the  board  is  usually 
unsalaried,  with  a  salaried  superintendent  under  its  direction. 
In  Cleveland  the  superintendent  has  complete  control  of  the 
school  administration,  and  the  school  board  manages  the 
finances  and  general  regulation  only.  In  Buffalo  there  is 
no  school  board,  and  the  only  limitations  on  the  acts  of  the 
superintendent  of  schools  are  those  set  by  the  municipal 
council.  Other  departments  which  in  many  cases  are  under 
the  control  of  boards  are  parks,  libraries,  assessments,  health, 
and  less  frequently  police  and  public  works. 

An  important  factor  in  the  development  of  the  board 
system  has  been  the  bi-partisan  idea  that  more  than  one 
political  party  be  represented  on  the  board.  This  system 
has  been  advocated  as  a  means  of  securing  non-partisan 
appointments  and  of  preventing  the  extension  of  the  spoils 
system  in  the  municipal  service.  More  frequently,  how- 
ever, the  objects  and  results  of  adopting  the  bi-partisan  plan 
have  been  to  divide  the  spoils  between  the  two  leading 
parties,  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  party  managers,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  dissipate  responsibility.  If  two  parties 
are  equally  divided  there  must  result  either  a  deadlock  or  a 
"deal"  between  the  two  halves  of  the  boards.  In  some 
cases,  however,  boards  are  organized  so  as  to  give  one  party 
a  majority,  as  in  Buffalo  for  the  police  and  fire  departments, 
and  in  Cincinnati  for  the  police  department,  where  the 
mayor  is  ex  officio  a  member  of  the  boards. 

These  boards  have  been  spoken  of  as  bi-partisan  because 
that  in  practice  is  what  they  are.  It  should  be  noted,  how- 
ever, that  the  legal  provision  is  simply  that  not  more  than  a 
certain  number  of  members  shall  be  selected  from  one  party > 


408  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

consequently  the  additional  members  may  be  from  any  other 
party,  or  from  no  party  at  all.  In  Michigan  a  law  requiring 
appointments  to  be  made  from  the  two  principal  parties  has 
been  declared  unconstitutional,  as  establishing  a  "  test "  for 
office  in  violation  of  the  fundamental  law.1  On  the  other 
hand,  in  New  York  city  a  board  of  election  commissioners 
has  recently  been  established  for  which  the  two  leading  party 
committees  are  authorized  to  submit  nominations,  although 
the  law  does  not  attempt  to  require  the  appointments  to  be 
made  from  these  nominations. 

Another  feature  of  municipal  administration  is  the  organi- 
zation of  the  various  department  heads  into  a  general  board 
or  council.  It  has  already  been  noted  that  in  some  American 
cities  single  commissioners  for  particular  branches  of  public 
work  are  united  into  a  general  board  of  public  improve- 
ment, as  in  New  York  and  St.  Louis.  But  there  is  seldom 
in  this  country  a  council  composed  of  all  the  depart- 
ment heads.  The  nearest  approach  to  such  a  council  is  in 
Cleveland,  where  the  heads  of  the  six  principal  depart- 
ments form  what  is  known  as  the  mayor's  cabinet,  which 
holds  frequent  meetings.  Similarly,  in  New  Orleans,  and  in 
the  New  York  cities  of  the  second  class,  the  charters  provide 
for  meetings  of  the  mayor  and  the  heads  of  the  departments 
for  consultation  and  the  discussion  of  municipal  policies. 

This  feature  is  more  common  in  other  countries.  In  Ger- 
many the  administrative  magistrates  form  together  a  distinct 
body,  which  holds  regular  and  frequent  meetings,  and  exer- 
cises important  collective  authority.  In  French  cities  where 
regular  council  meetings  are  infrequent,  meetings  of  the 
mayor  and  adjoints  are  required,  although  the  former  official 
has  the  general  direction  of  municipal  affairs  in  his  own 
hands.  In  Great  Britain  the  administrative  committees  come 
together  in  the  council  meetings.  Such  meetings  of  adminis- 
trative officials  are  important  and  valuable  in  promoting  the 
unity  of  administration,  and  the  lack  of  them  is  a  serious 
defect  in  the  board  system  of  municipal  government. 

1  Attorney-general  vs.  Board  of  Councilmen  of  Detroit,  58  Michigan, 
p.  213. 


ADMINISTRATIVE  OFFICIALS  409 

POWERS   OF   ADMINISTRATIVE   OFFICIALS 

The  principal  and  most  general  duties  of  the  administra- 
tive officials  are  those  of  directing  the  technical  officers  and 
subordinate  employees  in  the  department  over  which  they  have 
charge,  according  to  the  general  principles  laid  down  in  the 
laws,  statutes,  and  ordinances  of  the  legislatures,  state  offi- 
cials, or  municipal  councils.  In  European  countries  the  ad- 
ministrative officers  have  usually  in  practice  a  large  amount 
of  power  over  the  detailed  organization  of  this  subordinate 
service  and  over  the  appointment  of  the  employees.  But  in 
the  United  States  there  are  sometimes  strict  limitations 
placed  upon  their  authority  in  these  respects.  The  detailed 
organization  of  departments  may  be  prescribed  in  the  city 
charter  by  the  legislature,  while  the  system  of  competitive 
examinations  of  applicants  for  appointments  is  an  important 
restriction  in  the  appointing  power  of  the  department  heads. 

For  example,  the  New  York  charter  fixes  the  strength  of 
the  police  force  and  the  salaries  of  the  policemen ;  and  an 
amending  act  establishes  minimum  salaries  for  school-teachers 
with  regular  annual  increments.  In  these  departments,  as 
well  as  others,  the  tenure  of  subordinate  positions  is  per- 
manent, and  removals  can  be  made  only  for  specific  cause 
and  after  a  hearing.  All  of  the  cities  of  New  York  and 
Massachusetts  have  general  systems  of  competitive  exami- 
nations for  positions  in  the  civil  service.  In  Massachusetts 
these  examinations  for  the  various  cities  are  conducted  by 
the  State  Civil  Service  Commission.  In  New  York  each 
city  has  a  commission  appointed  by  the  mayor ;  but  their 
rules  must  be  approved  by  the  state  commission.  City  com- 
missions have  also  been  established  in  Chicago,  Milwaukee, 
and  New  Orleans.  Examinations  for  school-teachers  are  not 
held  by  such  commissions,  but  under  the  direction  of  the 
school  board. 

The  ordinance  power  of  the  department  officials  is  gener- 
ally confined  to  making  rules  and  regulations  governing  their 
subordinates  and  protecting  the  public  property  under  their 
control.  Thus  police  boards  or  commissioners  issue  rules 


410  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

for  the  guidance  of  the  policemen ;  fire  commissioners 
issue  rules  for  the  members  of  the  fire  brigade  ;  and  school 
boards  pass  ordinances  for  the  regulation  of  school  build- 
ings. In  such  cases,  the  rules  affect  the  general  public  only 
indirectly.  In  other  cases,  rules  for  the  protection  of  public 
property  may  impose  duties  and  restrictions  on  others  than 
municipal  employees, — as  when  a  school  board  regulates  the 
course  of  instruction  or  the  text-books  to  be  used  ;  when  a 
dock  board  issues  by-laws  governing  the  use  of  the  docks ; 
when  a  park  board  adopts  regulations  for  the  care  of  the 
parks;  when  the  street-cleaning  commissioner  issues  orders 
in  regard  to  the  disposition  of  garbage  and  ashes  ;  or  when  a 
water  commissioner  promulgates  rules  for  the  distribution  of 
water.  In  some  cases  the  power  to  issue  orders  of  general 
interest  has  been  more  widely  extended.  The  most  impor- 
tant power  of  this  sort  is  that  possessed  by  some  boards  of 
health  to  issue  health  regulations  and  ordinances,  which  in 
some  cases  takes  away  from  the  councils  the  most  important 
part  of  their  power  of  issuing  police  ordinances. 

Some  administrative  boards  have  even  larger  authority, 
and  can  adopt  a  general  scheme.  This  is  most  often  the  case 
with  elected  boards  or  those  appointed  by  other  than  mu- 
nicipal officials.  School  boards,  however  chosen,  have  gen- 
erally such  power  to  a  large  degree ;  and  the  same  is  true  to 
an  even  greater  extent  of  the  independent  school  boards  of 
Great  Britain.  Park  boards  in  American  cities,  when  first 
created,  often  design  the  park  schemes  of  the  city.  Even 
public  works  boards  or  commissioners  may  have  power  to 
adopt  a  plan  for  street  paving  or  street  openings  without 
the  necessity  of  securing  the  approval  of  the  city  council. 
Authority  of  this  kind  is  probably  possessed  most  generally 
by  the  magistrates  of  German  cities,  although  in  important 
matters  the  power  rests  in  the  hands,  not  of  a  single  magis- 
trate, but  of  the  entire  board.  In  some  American  cities,  and 
notably  in  New  York,  the  power  of  individual  department 
heads  is  greater  than  that  of  the  corresponding  official  in 
Germany. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
THE  MAYOB 

IN  all  systems  of  municipal  organization  there  is  at  the 
head  of  the  government  a  single  official,  who  stands  as  the 
chief  agent  and  representative  of  the  city.  The  title  of  this 
official  varies  to  some  extent.  In  England  and  America  he 
is  called  the  mayor,  and  in  France  he  has  the  similar  name 
of  maire;  in  Germanic  countries  he  is  the  burgomaster  or 
chief  burgomaster,  in  Italy  the  syndic,  and  in  Spain  the 
alcalde.  His  powers  are  also  of  widely  different  importance; 
but  he  is  an  official  of  great  positive  and  relative  author  it}r 
in  all  countries  except  in  Great  Britain,  where  the  position 
is  merely  one  of  honorary  dignity. 

The  prevailing  method  of  selecting  mayors  in  Europe  is 
election  by  the  municipal  council.  That  method  is  followed 
in  Great  Britain,  France  (except  in  Paris),  Germany,  the 
large  cities  of  Italy,  and  the  small  towns  of  Spain ;  but  in 
Germany  the  choice  must  be  confirmed  by  the  central  gov- 
ernment of  the  State.  Appointment  by  the  central  govern- 
ment is  the  system  in  Belgium,  Holland,  Denmark,  Norway, 
Sweden,  towns  of  less  than  10,000  population  in  Italy,  and 
cities  of  over  6000  population  in  Spain;  but  in  Belgium 
and  Italy  the  appointment  is  limited  to  members  of  the  mu- 
nicipal council,  and  in  Sweden  the  council  presents  three 
nominations,  from  which  the  appointment  is  made.  ^In 
Paris,  the  two  prefects  who  perform  the  functions  of  mayor 
are  appointed  by  the  central  government?)  Election  by  the 
council  is  also  the  system  in  the  British  self-governing  colo- 
nies. In  the  United  States  there  are  some  survivals  of  the 
English  system  of  election  by  the  council  in  Tennessee ;  but 
the  mayor  is  almost  universally  elected  by  popular  vote,  a 

411 


412  MUNICIPAL   ORGANIZATION 

method  followed  in  no  other  country.  Generally  in  such 
elections  the  person  receiving  the  largest  number  of  votes  is 
elected  ;  but  in  Providence  a  majority  vote  has  been  required, 
and  as  a  result  triangular  contests  have  been  frequent,  necessi- 
tating second  ballots,  at  which  "  deals  "  between  candidates  have 
been  alleged.  It  would  seem,  however,  as  if  such  a  rule  would 
encourage  independent  candidates,  and  allow  every  candidate 
to  stand  on  his  own  merits,  whereas  at  present  it  is  often  a 
question  with  many  voters  of  choosing  the  lesser  of  two  evils. 

Some  special  qualifications  required  of  mayors  may  be 
noted.  In  most  countries  he  must  be  either  a  resident  or  a 
taxpayer ;  but  in  the  United  States  there  is  a  rigid  residence 
requirement,  which  excludes  large  taxpayers  and  business 
men  who  live  beyond  the  municipal  limits.  In  Great  Britain 
the  rule  is  that  any  occupier  of  premises  who  lives  within 
fifteen  miles  of  the  city  is  eligible ;  and  in  France  any  tax- 
payer is  eligible  to  the  council,  and  as  a  member  of  the 
council  to  the  mayor's  office.  In  Germany  there  is  no  resi- 
dence requirement,  but  the  burgomasters  must  be  persons 
who  have  taken  the  professional  training  for  administrators, 
and  in  practice  the  burgomasters  are  frequently  elected  by 
promoting  an  official  in  another  city.  Dr.  Forckenbeck, 
mayor  of  Berlin  before  1892,  was  called  there  from  the  simi- 
lar position  in  Breslau ;  and  upon  his  death  the  mayor  of 
Danzig  was  mentioned  for  the  post,  although  the  council 
selected  one  of  the  Berlin  magistrates.  The  mayor  of  Leip- 
zig was  formerly  deputy  mayor  of  Dresden. 

In  England  the  mayor  is  chosen  annually,  and  changes  are 
frequent ;  but  in  continental  Europe,  where  the  position 
carries  with  it  large  powers,  the  term  is  always  of  much 
longer  duration.  In  France  it  is  four  years  ;  in  Holland, 
six  years;  in  Belgium  the  Crown  appointments  are  for  an 
indefinite  period.  In  Germany  appointments  for  twelve 
years  are  the  general  rule,  but  in  a  number  of  cases  the 
appointment  is  for  life,  sometimes  after  a  few  years  on  pro- 
bation. The  life  tenure  exists  in  Munich,  Leipzig,  Dresden, 
Hanover,  Stuttgart,  Chemnitz,  and  some  smaller  cities.1  In 

1  Shaw,  Continental  Europe,  p.  319. 


THE   MAYOR  413 

colonial  times  and  during  the  early  decades  after  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution,  long  terms  for  the  mayors  of  American  cities 
were  not  unknown.  Thus  in  New  York  before  1775  mayors 
frequently  held  office  for  ten  years,  and  in  the  Federalist 
days  Richard  Varick  was  mayor  for  twelve  years.  Under 
the  first  charter  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  the  mayor,  who  was 
elected  by  the  people,1  held  office  during  the  pleasure  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  commonwealth  ;  and  during  the 
forty-two  years  until  1826,  when  the  provision  of  the  charter 
was  changed,  the  city  had  only  four  mayors,  two  of  whom 
died  in  office.  At  the  present  time,  however,  American 
mayors  hold  office  for  brief  terms.  In  New  England,  and  in 
small  towns  elsewhere,  annual  elections  are  the  rule.  The 
two-year  term  is  the  one  generally  adopted  by  large  cities, 
and  now  prevails  in  New  York  (after  1901),  Chicago, 
Boston,  Detroit,  San  Francisco,  Baltimore,  Cleveland,  New- 
ark, Omaha,  Minneapolis,  Denver,  Milwaukee,  Indianapolis, 
Richmond,  Salt  Lake  City,  Seattle,  Atlanta,  New  Haven, 
Wilmington,  Del.,  and  Bridgeport,  Conn.  A  few  cities  have 
longer  terms  for  the  mayor ;  it  is  four  years  in  Philadelphia, 
St.  Louis,  Buffalo,  New  Orleans,  and  Louisville,  as  it  was 
also  in  New  York  from  1897  to  1901 ;  it  is  five  years  in  Jer- 
sey City,  and  three  years  in  Cincinnati. 

The  payment  of  regular  salaries  to  mayors  is  a  general 
feature  of  German  and  American  municipal  government  in 
large  cities,  and  in  accordance  with  the  importance  of  the 
position  the  salary  is  the  highest  to  any  municipal  official. 
The  mayor  of  Berlin  receives  $7500  a  year ;  those  of  Frank- 
fort, Cologne,  and  Breslau  16250  (25,000  marks)  each ;  and  in 
smaller  cities  smaller  sums  are  paid.  The  mayor  of  New 
York  city  receives  $15,000  a  year,  the  largest  amount  for  any 
city,  and  larger  than  the  salary  of  the  governor  of  the  state. 
The  mayor  of  Philadelphia  has  $12,000  a  year ;  of  Boston, 
$10,000;  of  Chicago,  $7000;  of  New  Orleans,  $6000;  of  St. 
Louis,  Baltimore,  Denver,  and  Detroit,  $5000  each  ;  of  San 
Francisco,  $4200  ;  and  of  Minneapolis,  $2000.  In  England 
the  council  is  authorized  to  appropriate  money  for  the 

1  Wilcox,  Outline  of  City  Government,  p.  183. 


414  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

mayor ;  but  sums  thus  appropriated  go  to  reimburse  him, 
and  that  in  many  cases  only  partially,  for  the  heavy  ex- 
penses of  the  office  for  dinners,  receptions,  and  the  like. 
The  salaries  of  the  prefects  of  Paris  are  18000  and  $10,000. 
But  the  French  maires  receive  no  salaries,  although  they 
have  a  significant  perquisite.  Immediately  after  the  elec- 
tions the  maires  in  each  department  are  given  an  elaborate 
reception  by  the  department  officials.  This  is  given  to  secure 
the  good  will  of  the  maires  toward  the  national  adminis- 
tration, and  is  said  to  be  very  effective  in  making  them  loyal 
to  the  supervising  authorities  at  Paris.1 

Power  to  remove  the  mayor  is  possessed  by  the  central 
governments  in  some  countries  where  they  have  no  direct 
control  over  the  selection.  In  France  mayors  may  be  sus- 
pended for  one  month  by  the  prefects ;  the  suspension 
may  be  extended  to  three  months  by  the  minister  of  the 
interior ;  and  they  may  be  removed  by  decree  of  the  presi- 
dent, and  such  a  decree  renders  the  removed  mayor  ineligi- 
ble for  reelection  for  one  year.  In  Michigan  the  mayors  of 
all  cities,  and  in  New  York  the  mayors  of  most  important 
cities,  may  be  removed  by  the  governor  of  the  state  for  cause, 
which  is  held  by  the  courts  to  require  definite  charges  and 
an  opportunity  granted  the  accused  to  be  heard  in  reply. 
The  statutes  of  Illinois  and  Alabama  provide  for  the  re- 
moval of  mayors  by  the  judicial  courts  for  certain  causes. 
In  the  absence  of  special  provisions  the  common  law  gives 
to  the  corporation  the  power  to  remove  a  corporate  officer 
for  reasonable  and  just  cause  ;  and  it  has  been  held  in  this 
country  that  this  power  may  be  exercised  by  the  representa- 
tive and  governing  body  of  a  municipal  corporation.2 

POSITION   AND   POWERS   OF  THE  MAYOR 

In  all  countries  the  mayor  is  the  official  head  of  the  mu- 
nicipal government ;  and  he  is  also  the  local  agent  of  the  cen- 
tral government,  especially  in  regard  to  police  matters.  In 

1  Wilcox,  City  Government,  p.  190. 

2  Langdon  vs.  New  York,  27  Hun,  p.  288. 


THE   MAYOR  415 

France,  Italy,  Belgium,  and  in  Central  Europe  generally,  his 
powers  as  agent  of  the  central  government  are  sharply  dis- 
tinguished from  those  as  head  of  the  local  corporation,  and 
in  the  former  he  is  subject  to  strict  supervision  and  control. 
In  English-speaking  countries,  however,  this  distinction  is 
not  always  clearly  emphasized. 

The  special  powers  and  duties  of  the  mayor  may  be  divided 
into  three  classes  :  1,  those  relating  to  the  municipal  council 
and  local  legislation ;  2,  those  relating  to  the  various  admin- 
istrative services ;  and  3,  those  of  a  judicial  character. 

Legislative  Powers 

Under  the  English  system,  the  mayor  is  a  member  and 
presiding  officer  of  the  council,  and  possesses  the  routine 
powers  of  a  presiding  officer,  but  nothing  like  the  extraordi- 
nary powers  of  the  speaker  of  an  American  legislature.  As 
a  member  of  the  council,  he  serves  on  committees  and  is  usu- 
ally chairman  of  some  committees,  and  thus  takes  an  active 
part  in  the  departmental  administration  ;  but  his  position  as 
presiding  officer  prevents  him  from  entering  actively  into 
the  discussions  of  the  council.  His  only  other  power  in  this 
field  is  that  of  calling  special  sessions  of  the  council.  He 
has  no  veto  power  over  council  ordinances,  and  no  special 
power  of  initiating  measures. 

In  France  the  mayor  is  also  a  member  and  presiding  offi- 
cer of  the  council,  and  has  no  veto  power  over  its  acts ;  but 
his  influence  is  greater  than  that  of  the  English  mayor,  on 
account  of  his  complete  control  over  the  administrative  ser- 
vices, while  he  also  has  the  special  duties  of  preparing  the 
provisional  budget  for  the  consideration  of  the  council,  and 
of  enacting  police  ordinances  without  the  approval  of  the 
municipal  council.  Under  the  German  system,  the  mayor  is 
neither  a  member  nor  the  presiding  officer  of  the  elective 
council,  and  his  individual  control  over  the  council  is  not 
marked ;  but  the  board  of  magistrates,  of  which  he  is  the 
chief,  exercises  a  significant  power  —  that  of  initiating 
measures  for  the  council  —  and  in  addition  exercises  the 


416  MUNICIPAL   ORGANIZATION 

authority  to  elaborate  the  council  ordinances,  and  to  nega- 
tive a  council  act  on  the  ground  of  illegality,  subject  to 
appeal  to  the  higher  authorities. 

Early  American  mayors  had  powers  over  the  councils 
similar  to  those  of  the  English  mayor ;  but  later  develop- 
ment has  increased  his  influence,  in  some  respects  beyond 
that  of  the  European  mayors.  Although  the  mayor  is  sel- 
dom chosen  by  the  council  from  among  its  members,  in  a 
large  number  of  small  cities  the  popularly  elected  mayor 
is  presiding  officer  of  the  council,  and  this  is  also  the 
case  in  Chicago.  In  all  the  other  large  cities,  however,  the 
mayor  does  not  occupy  this  position.  As  presiding  officer, 
the  mayor  usually  has  a  casting  vote  in  case  of  a  tie.  In 
most  cities  the  mayor  has  also  the  power  to  call  special 
meetings  of  the  council.  The  characteristic  features  of  the 
American  mayor  in  his  relations  to  the  council  are  those 
which  differ  from  the  English  system.  As  a  rule,  when  the 
mayor  is  anything  more  than  the  presiding  officer  of  the 
council,  he  is  required  to  submit  to  the  council  messages  as 
to  the  condition  of  the  city  and  work  of  the  administrative 
departments.  But  such  messages  resemble  those  of  the 
President  to  Congress,  and  of  state  governors  to  the  legis- 
latures, in  that  they  simply  make  recommendations,  and  do 
not  initiate  measures  in  the  council,  and  the  mayor's  powers 
in  this  respect  are  less  extensive  than  those  of  the  Prussian 
executive  board. 

VjOn  the  other  hand,  the  American  mayor  has  an  important 
power  over  council  acts,  which  is  not  possessed  in  any 
other  country,  in  his  limited  vetoJ  Every  ordinance  or  reso- 
lution of  the  council  must  be  submitted  to  the  mayor  for  his 
approval ;  if  he  signs  an  ordinance,  it  becomes  a  law ;  if  he 
disapproves  and  vetoes  an  ordinance,  it  must  ordinarily  be 
again  passed  by  the  council,  by  a  two-thirds  or  larger  vote, 
to  become  a  law.  This  veto  power  may  be  exercised,  not 
merely  for  unlawful  acts,  but  at  the  discretion  of  the  mayor ; 
and  in  several  respects  it  is  a  more  extensive  power  than  that 
possessed  by  the  President  or  state  governors.  In  most  of 
the  large  cities,  and  many  of  the  smaller  ones,  the  mayor  may 


THE   MAYOR  417 

veto  separate  items  in  appropriation  bills.  In  a  number  of 
cases  a  larger  vote  than  two-thirds  is  necessary  to  overrule 
the  veto.  In  Baltimore  a  three-fourths  vote  is  required  ;  in 
New  York  a  five-sixths  vote  is  required  to  overrule  the 
mayor's  veto  of  an  item  in  the  appropriation  bill.  In  a  few 
cases  the  mayor  has  only  a  suspensive  veto,  as  in  Bridgeport, 
Conn.,  and  a  majority  vote  of  the  council  will  pass  an  ordi- 
nance over  his  veto.  The  time  allowed  the  mayor  for  the 
consideration  of  council  ordinances  varies  from  three  to 
fourteen  days.  It  is  five  days  in  Baltimore,  Philadelphia, 
and  New  Orleans,  and  ten  days  in  the  cities  of  Ohio  and 
New  Jersey. 

Administrative  Powers 

The  influence  of  the  English  mayor  over  the  adminis- 
trative services  is  even  less  distinctive  than  his  position 
in  relation  to  the  general  acts  of  the  council.  He  does  take 
an  active  part  in  the  administration,  as  a  member  of  com- 
mittees, but  only  in  the  same  way  as  other  members  of  the 
council.  He  has  no  special  appointing  power,  nor  even  the 
right  of  nomination  to  municipal  positions ;  and  he  has  no 
power  of  direction  over  the  committees  or  administrative 
services  as  a  whole.  In  France  the  maire  has  full  charge 
of  the  administration  in  operation;  although  he  does  not 
select  the  ad  joints,  he  assigns  them  to  particular  depart- 
ments, and  has  a  large  and  comprehensive  power  of  direc- 
tion over  them.  He  thus  has  the  care  and  management  of 
municipal  property,  the  supervision  over  municipal  expendi- 
ture, the  direction  of  public  works,  the  making  of  contracts, 
leases,  sales,  acquisitions,  and  other  business  transactions  of 
the  municipality,  and  represents  the  municipality  in  law 
cases.  The  exercise  of  these  powers  involves  the  appoint- 
ment of  most  of  the  salaried  municipal  officials,  with  power 
of  suspension  and  removal  under  certain  limitations.  More- 
over, the  French  maire  has  in  his  immediate  charge  the 
control  of  the  police,  acting  in  this  field  as  the  agent  of  the 
central  government ;  and  in  this  same  capacity  he  executes 
the  laws  relating  to  registration  of  vital  statistics,  military 
SB 


418  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

service,  assessment  of  national  taxes,  and  other  matters.1 
In  Germany  the  burgomaster  does  not  have  the  appointing 
power,  nor  does  he  have  the  exclusive  power  over  the  whole 
municipal  administration  which  the  French  maire  exercises ; 
but  he  is  distinctly  the  head  of  the  board  of  magistrates, 
which  jointly  directs  and  controls  the  whole  administration. 
(  An  American  mayor  has,  in  some  respects,  a  larger  degree 
of  individual  authority  over  the  municipal  administration 
than  this  official  in  other  countries,  j  The  tendency  of  recent 
changes  is  to  centralize  still  further'  in  his  hands  the  control 
and  responsibility  of  the  whole  municipal  administration. 
In  most  American  cities  the  mayor  has  at  least  the  power 
of  nominating  persons  for  appointment  to  many  of  the  lead- 
ing administrative  positions.  The  most  frequent  exception 
to  this  power  is  in  the  case  of  the  financial  officials,  the 
treasurer  and  comptroller^  who  are  generally  chosen  by 
popular  vote ;  but  in  some  cases  (Chicago,  Cleveland,  and 
Detroit)  even  such  officials  are  nominated  by  the  mayor. 
There  are  numerous  instances  of  other  officials  who  are 
elected  by  municipal  councils  or  by  popular  vote,  but  there 
are  few  large  cities  where  the  mayor  does  not  have  consid- 
erable power  of  nomination.  Such  nominations  must,  how- 
ever, as  a  general  rule  be  confirmed  by  the  council  or  by  one 
branch  of  a  bicameral  council ;  so  that  the  mayor's  power 
of  appointment  is  far  from  complete,  while  responsibility 
for  the  persons  appointed  is  not  clearly  fixed.  This  situa- 
tion has  led  to  the  movement  for  conferring  on  the  mayor 
the  absolute  power  of  selecting  the  department  heads,  with- 
out the  necessity  for  confirmation  by  the  council.  This 
system  was  first  established  in  Brooklyn  in  1882,  and  has 
since  been  adopted  in  a  number  of  cities,  including  New 
York,  Rochester,  Boston,  Buffalo,  Syracuse,  Duluth,  and 
other  cities,  especially  in  New  York  and  Indiana.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  are  some  important  cities  where 
the  mayor's  power  of  nomination  is  restricted  or  non-exist- 
ent. In  St.  Louis  the  mayor  makes  nominations  to  the 
council,  but  in  the  middle  of  his  four-year  term;  conse- 

i  Shaw,  Continental  Europe,  pp.  176-177. 


THE  MAYOR  419 

quently,  during  the  first  two  years  of  his  term,  the  officials 
are  those  appointed  by  his  predecessor.  In  Providence  the 
mayor  has  simply  a  casting  vote,  as  presiding  officer  of  a 
joint  session  of  the  two  branches  of  the  council  for  making 
appointments. 

It  is  still  a  characteristic  feature  of  appointments  to  munici- 
pal offices  that  they  are  for  a  definite  term,  and  this  method 
requires  a  definite  grant  of  power  to  remove  or  suspend  an 
official.  With  the  increase  in  the  mayor's  power  of  appoint- 
ment, there  has  been  a  similar  but  slower  development  in 
giving  that  officer  the  power  to  remove  municipal  officials. 
In  most  of  the  large  cities,  the  mayors  have  now  some  power 
in  this  field,  ranging  from  the  right  to  initiate  proceedings 
for  removal,  through  the  power  to  suspend  or  to  remove  for 
cause,  to  the  complete  power  to  remove  at  pleasure.  The 
latter  is  found  in  only  a  few  cases,  and  municipal  officials 
have  usually  the  right  to  a  trial  or  a  hearing  before  removal. 
They  may,  however,  be  suspended  during  the  examination, 
and  this  power  of  suspension  is  usually  vested  in  the  mayor. 
But  the  power  of  suspension,  like  other  disciplinary  powers, 
must  be  expressly  granted,  and  cannot  be  inferred  from 
powers  of  regulation ; l  nor  does  it  generally  follow,  even 
from  a  grant  of  power  to  remove  for  cause.  The  power  to 
remove  for  cause,  which  is  conferred  in  a  considerable  number 
of  cities,  requires  the  presentation  of  definite  charges,  and 
a  trial  or  formal  hearing  at  which  the  official  has  an  oppor- 
tunity to 'reply  to  the  charges  ;  but  if  this  procedure  is  fol- 
lowed, the  decision  of  the  mayor  is  not  subject  to  appeal. 

The  mayor  of  Chicago  has  a  somewhat  greater  power  of 
removal,  though  still  limited  by  the  requirement  to  report 
the  reasons  for  his  action  to  the  council  within  ten  days 
from  the  date  of  his  order  for  removal ;  and  if  he  fails  to 
file  this  statement,  or  if  the  council  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of 
all  the  members  disapprove  of  the  removal,  the  officer  is  re- 
instated. The  mayors  of  Boston  and  Philadelphia  have  for 
some  years  had  a  complete  power  of  removing  all  officers 
whom  they  appoint,  but  must  report  the  order  of  removal 
1  State  vs.  Hudson,  44  Ohio  State,  p.  137. 


420  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

with  charges  and  reasons  to  the  city  council.  In  1895  the 
mayor  of  New  York  was  given  the  absolute  power  of  removal 
of  all  department  heads  except  the  board  of  education  during 
the  first  six  months  of  his  term,  in  1901  this  was  extended 
to  include  the  whole  of  his  term,  and  since  1900  the  mayors 
of  Rochester,  Syracuse,  Albany,  and  Troy  have  had  the 
same  absolute  power  of  removal. 

In  addition  to  these  powers  of  appointment  and  removal, 
American  mayors  have  a  general  supervision  over  all  of  the 
municipal  officials  and  departments.  The  extent  and  degree 
of  this  supervision  is  subject  to  wide  variations,  Where  he 
has  absolute  power  of  removal,  as  in  New  York  cities,  Phila- 
delphia, or  Boston,  or  with  such  large  power  of  removal  as 
in  Chicago,  he  has  the  practical  means  of  directing  both  the 
general  policy  and  the  detailed  action  of  the  various  depart- 
ments, just  as  the  President  can  control  the  various  branches 
of  national  administration.  Where,  as  is  more  often  the 
case,  he  has  not  such  complete  authority,  the  mayor  has 
usually  the  power  of  inspecting  the  books  and  records  of  the 
various  departments,  and  in  large  cities  of  appointing  special 
confidential  agents  for  this  purpose.  In  Philadelphia  the 
mayor  may  appoint  at  any  time  and  without  notice  three 
persons  to  audit  accounts  of  any  department ;  in  New  York 
he  appoints  two  commissioners  of  accounts  who  conduct  such 
confidential  examinations.  Further  supervision  is  exercised  by 
investigating  complaints  against  particular  departments  from 
public  or  private  sources ;  and  the  mayor's  office  is  generally 
a  clearing-house  for  a  large  mass  of  complaints  and  inquiries. 

Not  only  does  the  mayor  have  these  powers  over  the 
municipal  administration  as  a  whole,  but  he  has  many 
specific  powers,  and  exercises  direct  authority  in  particular 
fields.  Thus  he  is  always  a  peace  officer,  and  as  such  is 
charged  with  the  maintenance  of  order  and  the  suppression 
of  riots;  and  if  disturbances  become  too  strong  for  the 
municipal  forces  he  can  call  on  the  state  governor  for  the 
militia,  and  through  him  on  the  President  for  further  mili- 
tary aid.  The  requisition  of  a  mayor  for  militia  is  on  the 
same  footing  as  the  requisition  of  a  sheriff,  and  is  generally 


THE   MAYOR  421 

considered  as  conclusive  evidence  that  soldiers  are  necessary. 
In  small  cities  the  mayor  has  the  direct  management  of  the 
police  foree,  and  even  in  Chicago  and  Minneapolis  he  has  this 
authority,  the  superintendent  of  police  acting  under  his 
directions.  In  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  and  Buffalo  the  mayor 
is  ex  officio  a  member  of  the  police  board.  Another  power 
often  exercised  under  the  direct  control  of  the  mayor  is  that 
of  issuing  licenses  to  certain  trades,  occupations,  and  cele- 
brations, but  in  New  York  the  actual  work  is  performed  by 
the  mayor's  marshal. 

Other  administrative  duties  are  imposed  on  the  mayor  in 
his  capacity  as  a  member  of  various  boards.  Thus  in  New 
York  much  of  his  time  is  occupied  in  attending  meetings  of 
the  sinking  fund  commissioners  and  of  the  board  of  estimate 
and  apportionment. 

Judicial  Powers 

Judicial  powers  other  than  those  of  removing  officials 
for  cause  are  conferred  on  the  mayors  only  in  England  and 
the  United  States ;  while  in  both  these  countries  the  mayors, 
in  the  large  cities  at  least,  do  not  exercise  these  powers. 
The  English  mayor  is  ex  officio  a  justice  of  the  peace  during 
his  term  of  office  and  for  one  year  thereafter ;  but  the  large 
cities  have  each  paid  police  magistrates  who  perform  the  regu- 
lar functions  of  the  office.  In  the  early  American  charters  the 
mayor  had  always  judicial  powers,  and  the  mayor's  court  had 
not  only  summary  police  powers  but  a  considerable  criminal 
and  civil  jurisdiction.  In  New  York  city  the  mayor's  court 
has  been  transformed  into  the  recorder's  court,  now  one 
division  of  the  state  courts.  Most  American  mayors  are 
still  endowed  with  the  powers  of  a  justice  of  the  peace ;  but 
in  large  cities,  which  invariably  have  police  judges,  the  pow- 
ers are  not  used.  In  New  England  generally,  and  also  in 
Chicago,  St.  Louis,  San  Francisco,  and  Louisville,  the  mayor 
has  no  judicial  powers.  But  in  small  cities  the  mayor's 
court  is  still  in  active  existence  in  many  states,  especially 
in  Indiana,  Iowa,  Delaware,  and  the  Southern  states.  The 
mayor's  judicial  powers  are  of  most  importance  in  Indiana 
cities,  where  a  daily  court  is  held. 


CHAPTER  XX 
PROPOSED  PLANS  OF  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

THIS  discussion  of  municipal  organization  shows  the  great 
variety  of  forms  that  exist,  not  only  in  different  countries, 
but  more  particularly  in  the  various  states  and  cities  of  the 
United  States.  It  has  indeed  been  a  marked  characteristic 
of  American  municipal  government  that  there  has  been  a 
constant  process  of  change  in  the  form  of  organization  —  so- 
called  charter  tinkering  —  much  of  it  in  the  effort  to  improve 
municipal  government ;  whereas  in  other  countries  the  gen- 
eral principles  of  municipal  organization  have  been  perma- 
nent, and  public  discussion  of  municipal  affairs  has  been 
directed  in  the  main  to  the  operations  and  activities  of  the 
government.  And  it  has  been  suggested  that  if  less  atten- 
tion were  given  to  charter  changes  in  American  cities, 
improved  municipal  conditions  would  be  obtained  more 
speedily. 

Permanence  in  municipal  organization  is  undoubtedly  a 
factor  of  prime  importance  in  securing  the  best  municipal 
government ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  abandon  at  once  all  dis- 
cussion of  municipal  organization  and  to  accept  the  existing 
variety  of  arrangements  as  permanent.  So  long  as  the  sys- 
tem of  enumerated  powers  and  special  legislation  is  con- 
tinued, there  must  constantly  be  additional  legislation  for 
city  government ;  while  the  system  of  special  acts  and  the 
prevailing  diversity  of  organization  in  this  country  tends  to 
promote  additional  changes,  which  in  general  are  adopted  for 
some  immediate  and  local  purpose, —  worthy  or  unworthy  in 
itself,  —  but  without  reference  to  any  general  plan  of  govern- 
ment. Before  anything  like  permanence  in  municipal  or- 
ganization can  be  attained,  it  is  necessary  to  study  the 

422 


PROPOSED  PLANS   OF  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION      423 

question,  not  with  reference  to  particular  cities  and  im- 
mediate ends,  but  for  all  classes  of  cities,  and  to  frame  a 
scheme  adapted  to  varying  conditions. 

Such  a  general  scheme  of  municipal  organization  has  been 
drawn  up  by  a  committee  of  the  National  Municipal  League, 
and  adopted  by  the  League  under  the  title  of  A  Municipal 
Program.  This  committee  was  composed  of  Horace  E. 
Deming  of  New  York,  George  W.  Guthrie  of  Pittsburg, 
Charles  Richardson  of  Philadelphia,  Frank  J.  Goodnow  of 
New  York,  Leo  S.  Rowe  of  Philadelphia,  Albert  Shaw  of 
New  York,  and  Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff  of  Philadelphia. 
All  had  long  been  interested  in  problems  of  municipal  gov- 
ernment, and  had  given  a  great  deal  of  attention  to  the 
subject ;  while  their  special  work  in  framing  the  Municipal 
Program  extended  over  three  years.  This  Program,  then, 
as  a  serious  attempt  to  frame  a  general  scheme  of  municipal 
organization,  is  deserving  of  examination,  and  may  also 
be  used  as  a  basis  for  presenting  criticisms  and  divergent 
plans. 

The  Program  consists  of  certain  proposed  amendments 
to  state  constitutions,  together  with  a  proposed  municipal 
corporations  act.  The  proposed  constitutional  amendments 
are  five  in  number  :  — 

I.  Relating  to  the  suffrage  and  elections,  requiring  a  sys- 
tem of  personal  registration  of  voters,  secret  voting,  the  sepa- 
ration of  municipal  from  national  and  state  elections,  free 
nominations,  and  the  abandonment  of  the  party  group  sys- 
tem on  ballots  at  municipal  elections. 

II.  Prohibiting  the  legislature  from  passing  any  private 
or  local  bill  granting  exclusive  privileges,  immunities,  or 
franchises. 

III.  Provisions  relating  to  municipal  powers  and  organi- 
zation :  — 

1.  A  city's  streets  and  public  places  are  declared  inalienable 
except  on  a  four-fifths  vote  of  the  council ;  their  use  must 
be  for  a  limited  term  (twenty-one  years),  with  stated  finan- 
cial reports  of  the  grantee  and  the  right  of  the  city  to  inspect 
his  books  as  a  condition  of  the  grant. 


424  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

2.  Imposing  limitations  on  the  tax  rate  and  debt  of  munici- 
palities, but  excluding  from  the  debt  limit  debt  incurred  for 
temporary  revenue  or  for  revenue-producing  undertakings. 

3.  Authorizing   cities   to   establish   direct   legislation,  or 
minority  or  proportional  representation  in  municipal  elec- 
tions. 

4.  Municipal  accounts  to  be  uniform,  and  to  be  submitted 
to  state  authorities. 

5.  Cities  to  be  authorized  to  establish  minor  courts. 

6.  General  rules  of  organization :  mayor  and  council  to  be 
elected  and  removed  by  popular  vote ;  the  mayor  to  have 
absolute  power  of  appointment  except  of  the  comptroller ; 
administrative  officers  to  have  indefinite  terms ;  subordinate 
service  to  be  selected  by  competitive  examination. 

7.  General  grant  of  power  to  cities,  and  limitations  on 
special  legislation. 

8.  A  general   municipal   corporations   act  to   be  passed, 
applicable  to  all  cities  which  adopt  it  by  popular  vote. 

IV.  Cities  of  over  twenty-five  thousand  population  author- 
ized to  frame  charter  by  a  locally  elected  board,  and  to  adopt 
it  by  popular  election. 

V.  Regulating  the  use  of  petitions. 

The  proposed  municipal  corporations  act  consists  of  seven 
articles,  and  is  thirty-eight  pages  in  length.  In  the  first 
article  is  defined  the  procedure  for  the  incorporation  of  a 
city  under  the  act,  or  the  extension  of  its  boundaries,  each 
depending  on  a  popular  vote  in  the  district  concerned.  The 
second  article  deals  with  the  powers  of  a  city,  as  follows :  cor- 
porate powers  ;  powers  to  enact  ordinances  "  necessary  to 
protect  health,  life,  and  property,  to  prevent  and  summarily 
abate  and  remove  nuisances,  and  to  preserve  and  enforce  the 
good  government,  order,  security  of  the  city  and  its  inhabit- 
ants," with  fines  and  penalties;  full  powers  connected  with 
the  streets,  waterworks,  sewers,  and  to  regulate  the  con- 
struction of  buildings  ;  power  to  establish,  maintain,  and  reg- 
ulate wharves,  docks,  harbors,  and  ferries,  markets  and 
abattoirs,  workhouses,  prisons  and  reformatory  institutions, 
hospitals  and  charitable  institutions,  schools,  museums,  li- 


PROPOSED  PLANS  OF  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION      425 

braries  and  other  institutions,  and  minor  courts;  regulates 
contracts  and  the  granting  of  street  and  other  franchises ;  a 
general  power  to  levy  taxes  and  special  assessments,  and 
to  borrow  money ;  a  requirement  of  uniform  accounts  and 
reports ;  the  city  to  act  as  the  local  agent  for  the  en- 
forcement of  the  state  laws,  except  as  other  officers  may  be 
provided  by  the  general  laws  applicable  to  all  the  cities 
of  the  state ;  all  of  these  powers  to  be  subject  to  the  super- 
vision and  control  of  state  administrative  officers. 

Articles  3,  4,  5,  and  6  treat  of  the  municipal  organization. 
The  mayor  is  to  be  selected  by  popular  vote  for  a  two-year 
term,  and  is  to  be  subject  to  removal  by  the  governor  on 
charges  and  after  a  hearing.  He  is  entitled  to  be  present  at 
the  meetings  of  the  council,  and  to  speak,  but  has  no  vote. 
He  has  the  limited  veto  power  over  council  ordinances,  is  to 
prepare  and  submit  the  annual  budget,  and  is  to  appoint 
all  administrative  officers,  and  also  subordinate  officers  from 
a  list  of  those  who  have  passed  the  competitive  examina- 
tions, and  has  the  power  to  remove  the  same  upon  stating 
reasons. 

There  are  very  few  provisions  relating  to  the  organi- 
zation of  the  administrative  departments,  as  their  number 
must  differ  according  to  the  size  of  the  city  and  the  scope 
of  the  undertakings.  The  only  department  head  specifi- 
cally named  is  the  city  comptroller,  who  is  to  be  elected  by 
the  council  for  an  indefinite  term,  and  may  be  removed  by 
the  council.  His  accounts  will,  moreover,  be  audited  by  a 
state  officer.  Other  departments  will  be  established  and 
organized  by  the  council ;  or  may  be  determined  by  the  lo- 
cally framed  and  adopted  city  charter  in  cities  of  over  twenty- 
five  thousand  population.  The  regulation  of  appointments 
to  the  subordinate  and  technical  services  is  regulated  in 
considerable  detail.  There  is  to  be  in  each  city  a  munici- 
pal civil  service  commission  of  three  or  more  members, 
appointed  by  the  mayor,  who  are  to  classify  the  positions, 
provide  competitive  examinations,  prepare  eligible  lists,  make 
probationary  appointments,  and  promotions,  with  power  to 
enforce  their  regulations.  No  municipal  officer  or  employee 


426  MUNICIPAL   ORGANIZATION 

may  be  removed  for  political  reasons,  and  any  one  removed 
must  be  given  a  written  statement  showing  the  reasons  for 
removal ;  while  all  appointments,  except  temporary  and  pro- 
bationary appointments,  are  to  be  without  fixed  terms,  and 
subject  to  the  pleasure  of  the  mayor. 

The  council  is  to  be  composed  of  a  single  chamber,  the 
members  elected,  one-third  every  two  years,  for  six-year 
terms.  Under  the  act  they  are  to  be  chosen  on  general 
ticket,  but  the  constitutional  amendment  authorizes  the 
council  to  establish  minority  or  proportional  representation, 
and  cities  which  frame  their  own  charters  could  arrange  for 
large  districts.  The  council  can  exercise  all  the  powers 
conferred  on  the  city,  subject  to  the  veto  of  the  mayor. 
Specifically,  it  has  power  to  establish  municipal  offices,  the 
incumbents  to  be  appointed  by  the  mayor ;  to  elect  the 
comptroller ;  to  regulate  the  assessment,  levy,  and  collection 
of  taxes ;  and  to  appropriate  money  for  defraying  the 
expenses  of  the  city  government;  but  it  has  no  power  to 
increase  the  mayor's  budget.  The  final  article  of  the  pro- 
posed act  contains  general  provisions  in  regard  to  legal 
actions  by  citizens  against  municipal  officials,  nominations 
for  municipal  offices,  and  petitions. 

The  leading  characteristics  of  this  proposed  system  of  mu- 
nicipal organization  are  :  1,  the  disappearance  of  detailed 
enumerated  powers  ;  2,  local  charter  legislation  for  cities ; 

3,  the    mayor's    complete    authority    and    responsibility  ; 

4,  restrictions  on  political  patronage  ;    and  5,  the  position 
of  importance  given  to  the  council.     Except  the  first,  all  of 
these  features  are  in  operation  in  some  parts  of  the  United 
States,  and  most  of  them  are  approved  by  all  students  of 
municipal  government.     The  first  and  second  features  are 
intended  to  abolish  the  constant  interference  of  state  legisla- 
tures in  municipal  affairs  ;  which  is  everywhere  denounced 
as  a  continual  source  of  misgovernment.     The  system  of  lo- 
cally framed  and  adopted  charters  is  said  to  operate  well  in 
Missouri,  California,  and  Washington.     It  gives  to  the  char- 
ter the  character  of  a  fundamental  and  permanent  law,  which 
is  not  true  of  special  legislative  charters,  and  at  the  same 


PROPOSED  PLANS  OF  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION      427 

time  permits  of  special  features  in  municipal  organization 
adapted  to  local  conditions.  The  complete  authority  of  the 
mayor  over  the  administration  is  directly  in  line  with  recent 
tendencies  ;  and  such  centralization  at  least  secures  a  defi- 
nite responsibility,  and  tends  to  secure  for  the  position  of 
mayor  a  stronger  man,  since  he  is  given  power  and  opportu- 
nity to  accomplish  something.  The  system  of  competitive 
examinations  for  subordinate  positions  is  applied  from  the 
national  and  a  few  municipal  governments,  where  it  has 
proved  effective  in  reducing  the  evils  of  political  patronage. 
The  indefinite  terms  for  the  higher  officials  and  the  prohibi- 
tion on  removal  for  political  reasons  are  expected  to  secure 
more  permanence  in  municipal  organization. 

In  advocating  the  restoration  of  the  municipal  council  to 
a  position  of  importance,  the  Program  goes  counter  to  recent 
tendencies  in  this  country,  and  also  to  the  opinions  of 
many  others  interested  in  the  improvement  of  municipal 
government. 

The  defence  of  the  council  is  based  on  the  distinction  be- 
tween municipal  legislation  or  policy,  and  municipal  admin- 
istration. Under  the  present  system  municipal  legislation  is 
to  a  large  extent  decided  by  the  state  legislatures,  and  by 
administrative  authorities  ;  and  in  cases  where  the  weaken- 
ing of  the  council  has  gone  farthest,  the  whole  field  of  mu- 
nicipal policy  is  controlled  in  this  way.  Since  it  is  the  avowed 
object  to  reduce  the  legislature's  influence  over  questions  of 
local  policy,  if  the  municipal  council  is  to  remain  without 
powers  or  to  be  abolished,  all  matters  of  municipal  legislation 
would  be  decided  by  administrative  authorities.  Under  the 
present  system  administrative  officers  with  powers  of  local 
legislation  are  to  a  large  extent  elected  by  the  people,  who 
thus  assume  some  responsibility  for  the  decisions  on  ques- 
tions of  policy  ;  but  in  the  proposed  plan  all  such  officers  are 
to  be  appointed,  and  are  intended  to  be  permanent,  so  that 
there  would  be  no  direct  popular  control  over  their  actions  in 
determining  municipal  policy. 

As  to  the  character  of  the  council,  it  is  hoped  by  confer- 
ring important  powers,  by  abolishing  the  system  of  artificial 


428  MUNICIPAL   ORGANIZATION 

single-member  districts,  and  by  establishing  longer  terms,  to 
secure  the  election  of  a  better  class  of  members.  It  is  rather 
strange  that  the  argument  from  example  was  not  used  by  cit- 
ing the  case  of  Chicago,  where  the  council  has  important 
powers,  and  where  it  has  been  found  possible  to  elect  a  body 
of  which  a  majority  are  well  qualified  to  fill  the  position. 

Those  who  oppose  these  measures  to  revive  the  council 
have  their  strongest  arguments  in  the  character  of  the  per- 
sons now  chosen  to  the  municipal  councils,  and  maintain 
that  there  is  no  reason  to  expect  the  election  of  a  council  of 
leading  citizens  under  existing  social  and  political  conditions. 
Election  on  general  ticket,  it  is  claimed,  will  make  a  body  in 
no  way  more  representative  of  the  people  than  the  mayor, 
while  in  character  and  capacity  the  single  members  will  still 
continue  to  average  below  mediocrity.  In  regard  to  the  dis- 
tinction between  questions  of  policy  and  administration,  one 
writer  l  takes  the  ground  that  this  must  in  any  case  be  in 
large  measure  determined  by  the  advice  of  the  administrative 
officials  ;  and  he  also  holds  that  there  is  not  the  need  in  mu- 
nicipal government  for  a  legislative  body  to  defend  political 
liberty,  as  that  is  already  guaranteed  by  the  state  and  na- 
tional legislatures.  This  writer  seems  to  believe  in  the 
complete  abolition  of  the  council ;  and  as  a  means  of  control- 
ling the  spending  departments,  advocates  the  continuation  of 
the  board  of  estimate  as  it  has  existed  in  New  York,  com- 
posed of  several  officials  who  are  at  the  head  of  departments 
not  interested  in  the  spending  of  money,  of  whom  the  comp- 
troller and  other  officers  have  been  chosen  by  popular  vote. 
Such  a  board  in  some  respects  resembles  a  small  council 
elected  on  a  general  ticket,  but  it  has  some  important  dif- 
ferences, namely,  that  the  several  members  are  elected  for 
definite  departments  which  require  special  qualifications, 
and  that  they  are  not  directly  interested  in  expenditures. 

In  sharp  contrast  with  this  view  is  the  position  taken 
by  another  writer2  in  favor  of  the  system  of  the  complete 
supremacy  of  the  council  over  the  whole  field  of  munici- 

1  H.  DeF.  Baldwin,  Municipal  Affairs,  III,  11. 

2  E.  D.  Durand,  Political  Science  Quarterly,  XV,  426,  676. 


PROPOSED   PLANS   OF  MUNICIPAL   ORGANIZATION      429 

pal  government.  Such  a  solution  of  the  problems  of  munic- 
ipal organization  had  previously  been  tentatively  suggested 
by  Dr.  Albert  Shaw,1  who  pointed  out  that  it  was  as  logical 
and  more  democratic  to  centralize  power  and  responsibility 
in  a  council  than  in  a  single  official.  "  It  would  seem  a  little 
strange  that  the  one  school  of  reformers  should  not  have 
been  earlier  opposed  by  another  which  would  advocate  the 
concentration  of  authority  and  responsibility  on  the  council. 
Logically,  the  mayor  must  eventually  swallow  the  council  or 
the  council  must  swallow  the  mayor,  if  political  forces  are 
to  be  accorded  some  degree  of  natural  play ;  and  the  one- 
man  power  is  on  the  decline  in  this  age.  .  .  .  English, 
Scotch,  and  Irish  municipal  government  is  simply  govern- 
ment by  a  group  of  men  who  are  to  be  regarded  as  a  grand 
committee  of  the  corporation  —  the  corporation  consisting  of 
the  whole  body  of  burgesses  or  qualified  citizens.  ...  If 
such  a  local  government  cannot  be  trusted,  the  fault  is  with 
popular  institutions.  It  is  quite  certain  to  be  as  good  a 
government  as  the  people  concerned  deserve  to  have.  The 
location  of  responsibility  is  perfectly  definite." 

Mr.  Durand,  however,  is  satisfied  with  no  such  sugges- 
tions, but  boldly  advocates  the  policy  of  an  all-powerful 
council.  To  the  argument  of  past  experiences  with  councils, 
he  argues  that  the  demoralization  of  councils  in  character 
followed,  and  was  more  probably  a  result  than  a  cause  of  the 
weakening  of  their  powers ;  and  cites  the  experience  of  cities 
under  centralized  mayors  to  show  that  this  system  is  by  no 
means  altogether  satisfactory.  He  discusses  the  experience 
of  England,  France,  and  Germany  to  show  that  a  council, 
jystem  gives  far  more  satisfactory  municipal  government 
than  the  system  in  vogue  in  America;  and  that  so  far  as 
conditions  are  more  unfavorable  in  this  country  —  as  regards 
the  suffrage,  the  intelligence  and  the  uniformity  of  the  elec- 
torate, the  political  spirit  of  the  people,  and  the  attitude  of 
the  parties  —  the  remedy  lies  in  changes  adopted  with  ref- 
erence to  those  conditions,  and  not  in  the  centralization  of 
power  in  the  hands  of  the  mayor.  To  those  who  advocate 

1  Municipal  Government  in  Great  Britain,  p.  63. 


430  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 

a  division  of  authority  between  mayor  and  council,  he  replies, 
on  the  same  lines  as  the  advocates  of  the  all-powerful  mayor  : 
that  in  municipal  government  there  are  no  fundamental 
rights  at  stake  to  require  a  system  of  checks  and  balances, 
while  divided  authority  means  confused  responsibility  ;  that 
in  municipal  affairs  it  is  peculiarly  difficult  to  distinguish 
between  legislative  and  administrative  functions  ;  that  there 
is  no  reason  for  excluding  the  council  from  the  latter  ;  and 
that  efficiency  is  promoted  by  the  cooperation  rather  than 
by  the  separation  of  the  two  departments  of  government. 

Choosing  between  an  all-powerful  mayor  and  an  all-power- 
ful council,  he  selects  the  latter  for  these  reasons :  1,  ifjbhe^ 
council  is  the  chief  authority,  able  men  will  be  attracted  and 
elected  to  it,  especially  if  the  single-member  district  is  abol- 
ished, while  if  the  mayor  is  the  controlling  power,  a  bad 
mayor  is  as  likely  to  be  elected  as  a  good  one ;  2,  discre- 
tionary authority  is  better  exercised  by  a  board  than  by  a 
single  individual,  on  account  of  its  broader  knowledge,  its 
representation  of  different  interests,  and  the  continuity  of 
policy  under  a  system  of  partialj^newal ;  and  3,  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  council  to  the  people  is  at  least  as  definite  as 
that  of  the  mayor,  on  account  of  the  publicity  of  its  acjion&.__ 

Both  of  these  extreme  views  probably  go  farther  than  the 
writers  themselves  would  be  willing  to  follow.  The  advocates 
of  the  mayor's  authority  would  hardly  be  willing  to  let  a 
single  official  decide  such  questions  as  the  municipal  purchase 
of  street  railways  or  the  sale  of  municipal  waterworks  to  a 
private  corporation ;  and  if  the  staje__legislature§  are  no 
longer  to  control  the  decision  of  municipal  policies,  it  would 
seem  that  there  must  be  a  representative  deliberative  body 
to  discuss  and  decide  such  matters.  The  suggestion  that  the 
board  of  estimate  act  in  this  capacity  admits  the  necessity 
for  a  council  of  some  kind.  On  the  other  hand,  an  all-power- 
ful council  means  necessarily  the  abolition  of  the  mayor's  veto 
power  and  would  not  be  consistent  with  a  popularly  elected 
mayor,  although  these  are  distinctive  and  almost  universal 
features  of  American  municipal  government.  Moreover,  the 
system  of  checks  and  balances  in  American  government  is 


PROPOSED  PLANS   OF  MUNICIPAL   ORGANIZATION      431 

one  too  deeply  rooted  to  be  overthrown.  The  plan  of  the 
Municipal  Program  avoids  these  extreme  and  almost  revolu- 
tionary proposals,  and  follows  closely  the  lessons  of  expe^ri- 
ence  and  the  tendencies  of  American  municipal  development 
in  the  past. 

Accepting  the  view  that  there  should  be  both  an  elected 
mayor  with  a  large  range  of  authority,  and  also  a  council, 
there  remains  the  difficult  problem  of  a  satisfactory  organi- 
zation for  the  council.  To  the  writer,  the  single-member 
district  with  artificial  and  changeablejboundaries,  and  the  gen- 
eral ticket  system,  are  alike  objectionable.  BulTthere  could 
be  established  a  system  of  permanent  districts,  recognizing 
the  main  natural  divisions  of  the  city,  each  electing  a  num- 
ber of  members  roughly  in  proportion  to  population.  Such  a 
system  would  make  it  difficult  to  gerrymander  districts,  and 
even  under  the  present  system  of  voting  would  secure  repre- 
sentation to  more  than  one  party.  It  is  also  adapted  to  plans 
of  proportional  representation.  In  the  election  of  mayor,  an 
absolute  majority  of  votes  should  be  required  at  the  first 
ballot,  so  that  a  candidate  may  not  be  chosen  who  is  sup- 
ported by  a  minority  of  the  voters. 


INDEX 


Abattoirs,  307-309,  323. 

Academies,  208-212. 

Adelaide,  156,  276. 

Administrative  officials,  136-143,  181, 
203-206,  219,  268,  269,  399-410,  426. 

Administrative  organization :  police,  136- 
142 ;  fire  brigades,  156 ;  public  health 
and  safety,  181 ;  public  charities,  185- 
190 ;  education,202-206 ;  public  works, 
268-269;  finances,  359-371. 

Adulteration,  food  and  drugs,  164,  168. 

Agamenticus,  Me.,  72. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  287. 

Alabama,  municipal  organization,  414. 

Albany,  72,  74,  75,  97,  135,  137,  155,  190, 
230,  233,  273,  277,  292,  307,  309,  336, 
405,  420. 

Alcalde,  411. 

Alexander  the  Great,  empire  of,  7-9. 

Alexandria,  8,  11,  16,  20,  280. 

Allegheny,  Pa.,  152,  190,  209,  224,  244, 
285,  295,  307,  397. 

Allegheny,  river,  244. 

Allotments,  193,  324. 

Alsace-Lorraine,  346. 

Altona,  267,  310. 

Altoona,  Pa.,  253. 

America,  discovery  of,  30. 

Amiens,  163. 

Amsterdam:  16th  and  17th centuries,  35 ; 
fire  brigade,  154;  schools,  214;  sew- 
ers, 251;  lighting,  281,  283;  tele- 
phones, 291;  street  railways,  293; 
ferries,  301 ;  docks  and  harbors,  305 ; 
expenditures,  320,  329 ;  debt,  332. 

Amusements,  public:  in  ancient  Rome, 
14 ;  modern  cities,  323. 

Ancient  cities,  3-18. 

Annapolis,  Md.,  72. 

Antioch,  8, 11,  16,  280. 

Antwerp,  34,  37,  154,  214,  221,  222,  240, 
305,  308,  332. 

Appointment,  power  of,  417,  418,  426. 

Aqueducts.    See  Waterworks. 

Argentine,  cities  of:  population,  122; 
police,  139,  148.  See  also  South 
America. 

Arlington,  Mass.,  276. 


Anaheim,  214. 

Arnold  Arboretum,  265. 

Art  galleries,  municipal,  221,  223. 

Asphalt  pavement,  232,  234. 

Assessment  of  taxes :  Great  Britain,  34$ 
350,  370;  United  States,  352,  361. 

Assyria,  cities  of,  4. 

Athens,  5,  6,  7,  10,  223,  227. 

Atlanta,  Ga.,  155,  356,  377,  379,  380,  413. 

Audit  of  municipal  accounts :  United 
States,  361-363;  France,  366-368; 
Italy,  368;  Germany,  369;  Great 
Britain,  370-371. 

Augsburg,  27,  30,  36,  278. 

Australia,  cities  of:  population,  122; 
police,  138;  fire  brigades,  156;  water- 
works, 276 ;  lighting,  284 ;  street  rail- 
ways, 298;  docks  and  harbors,  305; 
markets,  309 ;  revenues,  335. 

Austria,  cities  of:  population,  121, 122; 
police,  140, 141, 148 ;  loan  offices,  195 ; 
savings  banks,  198;  museums,  221; 
theatres,  223;  lighting,  283;  docks 
and  harbors,  305 ;  organization,  378, 
379;  suffrage,  382. 

Avignon,  194,  242. 

Azti,  283. 

Babylon,  3,  4,  242. 

Babylonia,  cities  of,  4. 

Baden,  savings  banks,  197. 

Bagdad,  20. 

Baltimore,  Md. :  colonial  times,  77 ;  first 
charter,  79;  elective  mayor,  82;  pop- 
ulation, 86,  101 ;  police,  90, 100, 133 ; 
fire  brigade,  152,  155 ;  health  depart- 
ment, 167,  174;  charities,  189,  190; 
schools,  201,  205,  206,  209,  216;  libra- 
ries, 219;  street  pavements,  233,  235; 
lack  of  sewers,  250;  special  assess- 
ments, 254;  scavenging,  260;  parks, 
86,  263;  waterworks,  86,  273;  street 
railways,  89,  292,  293,  294 ;  wharves, 
307 ;  markets,  309 ;  expenditures,  321, 
329;  debt  limit,  334;  revenue,  373; 
organization,  377,  379,  413,  417. 

Barcelona :  in  mediaeval  times,  21 ;  ex- 
penditures, 329. 


2F 


433 


434 


INDEX 


Barmen,  36,  223,  299.  | 

Basel,  27,  30,  150,  215,  223,  281,  310. 

Bath,  N.C.,  72. 

Baths,  public:  ancient  Rome,  13;  Anti- 
och,  16;  mediaeval  cities,  29 ;  modern 
cities,  260,  261;  expenditures,  324; 
revenues,  338. 

Battersea  (London),  257. 

Bavaria,  cities  of :  organization,  117, 379 ; 
population,  121 ;  police,  138 ;  loan  of- 
fices, 193 ;  savings  banks,  197 ;  schools, 
210,  213,  214;  revenues,  346. 

Belfast,  298,  305. 

Belgium,  cities  of:  population,  121, 122; 
police,  140,  141;  charities,  186;  loan 
offices,  193, 194 ;  schools,  203,  212,  213 ; 
universities,  217;  museums,  221; 
theatres,  223;  parks,  267;  lighting, 
283,  287;  expenditures,  319,  322; 
debts,  331;  revenues,  336,  340,  345; 
organization,  378,  379,  380,  411,  412; 
proportional  representation,  382. 

Belinont,  Mass.,  276. 

Bergen,  28, 192,  223,  287. 

Berlin :  population,  118 ;  police,  129, 134, 
139;  fire  insurance,  150 ;  fire  brigade, 
152,  156;  health  department,  164; 
building  regulations,  177;  charities, 
187;  employment  bureaus,  192 ;  allot- 
ments, 193 ;  loan  office,  195 ;  savings 
bank,  197,  198 ;  schools,  210, 211, 213 ; 
libraries,  221;  theatre,  223;  street 
pavements,  232,  235 ;  street  improve- 
ments, 240,  255;  sewers,  250;  scav- 
enging, 256 ;  parks,  267 ;  waterworks, 
274,  277,  278 ;  lighting,  281,  282,  287 ; 
street  railways,  293,  295;  markets, 
308;  expenditures,  327;  debt,  332; 
revenue,  338,  346,  347 ;  organization, 
378,  399,  405,  412,  413. 

Berne,  27,  192,  215,  287. 

Bi-partisan  boards,  137-138,  407. 

Birkenhead,  245,  293,  301,  304. 

Birmingham,  Ala.,  100,  139. 

Birmingham,  Eng. :  17th  century,  52 ; 
population,  68,  71;  police,  132;  fire 
brigade,  153 ;  health  department,  161 ; 
building  regulations,  179;  schools, 
216;  libraries,  220;  art  school,  222; 
street  plans,  240;  sewers,  250;  mu- 
nicipal construction,  254 ;  baths,  260 ; 
parks,  266;  waterworks,  274;  light- 
ing, 283;  street  railways,  293,  299; 
markets,  309;  expenditures,  329;  rev- 
enue, 336;  organization,  378. 

Blackburn,  Eng.,  253. 

Blackpool,  Eng.,  299. 

Bloomington,  111.,  232. 


Blue  Hills,  264. 

Board  of  estimate:  New  York,  94,  360; 
other  cities,  98. 

Boards  of  health,  66,  68,  157-180. 

Boards  of  public  improvements,  269,  408. 

Board  system  of  administration :  police, 
137;  public  works,  268,269;  general 
discussion,  406-408. 

Bois  de  Boulogne,  262,  2(53. 

Bologna,  21,  153,  221,  267,  283. 

Bolton,  Eng.,  257,  304. 

Bombay,  147. 

Bonds,  power  to  issue,  396. 

Bootle,  Eng.,  276. 

Bordeaux,  11,  157,  186,  252,  261,  329,  363. 

Boroughs:  English,  42-71;  American 
colonial,  72-77 ;  New  York  city,  403. 

Boston,  Mass.:  colonial  times,  76-77; 
charters,  82,  88 ;  population,  86,  101 ; 
police,  100,  132-134,  137,  149;  liquor 
licenses,  148;  fire  brigade,  152,  155; 
health  department,  166,  167,  169,  170, 
172,  173,  174;  great  fire,  176;  build- 
ing regulations,  178;  economic  reg- 
ulation, 181;  charities,  189,  190; 
schools,  201,  205,  209;  library,  217, 
219;  museum,  222 ;  music,  224 ;  street 
pavements,  230,  232,  233,  234,  235; 
street  plans,  239,  241 ;  underground 
roads,  245;  sewers,  247,  252;  special 
assessments,  254;  scavenging,  260; 
baths,  261 ;  parks,  263,  265 ;  superin- 
tendent of  streets,  269 ;  waterworks, 
86, 273, 276 ;  lighting,  282 ;  street  rail- 
ways, 292,  298;  ferries,  302;  docks, 
306;  markets,  309;  expenditures,  321, 
329;  debt,  332,  334;  revenue,  356; 
council,  377,  378,  379,  381 ;  adminis- 
trative officials,  401,  405 ;  mayor,  97, 
413,  418,  419. 

Botanical  gardens,  263,  265,  266,  267. 

Boulevards,  39,  263,  265,  267. 

Bow  Street  Court,  130. 

Bradford,  161,  216,  257,  283,  286. 

Brazil,  cities  of:  population,  122.  See 
also  South  America. 

Bremen,  195,  251,  253,  256,  278,  305,  382. 

Breslau,  28,  115,  118,  210,  211,  223,  253, 
256,  287,  301,  332,  346,  347,  378,  399, 
413. 

Brest,  267,  287. 

Brick  pavement,  232,  233. 

Bridgeport,  Conn.,  209,  413,  417. 

Bridges:  ancient  cities,  242;  mediaeval 
cities,  23,  242;  Rialto,  242;  Pont 
Neuf,  38,  242;  modern  cities,  243, 
244;  expenditures  for,  323,  324. 

Brighton,  Eng.,  286. 


INDEX 


435 


Bristol,  Eng.,  46,  52,  161,  252,  260,  275, 
298,  305. 

British  India,  cities  of,  population,  122. 

British  towns.  See  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  cities  of. 

Brookline,  Mass.,  261. 

Brooklyn  bridge,  243,  298. 

Brooklyn,  N.Y.,  93,  94,  96,  165,  201,  233, 
248, 418.  . 

Bruges,  28,  29,  33,  35,  150. 

Brunswick,  150,  156,  195,  223,  253. 

Brussels:  population  in  1555,  35;  city 
hall,  36;  fire  brigade,  152,  154;  em- 
ployment bureau,  192;  art  school, 
222 ;  theatre,  223 ;  street  plans,  240  ; 
scavenging,  255 ;  parks,  37, 267  ;  light- 
ing, 284,  287;  markets,  308;  expen- 
ditures, 329;  debt,  332. 

Budapest :  loan  office,  195 ;  bridges,  244 ; 
sewage  disposal,  252;  baths,  261; 
boulevards,  267 ;  river  improvement, 
305;  organization,  378;  suffrage,  382. 

Budget  procedure:  United  States,  359- 
361;  France,  363-365;  Germany,  369; 
Great  Britain,  370. 

Buenos  Ayres:  police,  139;  fire  brigade, 
156. 

Buffalo,  N.Y. :  fire  brigade,  155;  health 
department,  167, 174;  building  regu- 
lations, 178;  charities,  189,190;  allot- 
ments, 193;  schools,  201,  205,  209; 
music,  224;  street  pavements,  233, 
234,  235;  sewers,  250;  special  as- 
sessments, 254;  scavenging,  260; 
baths,  261;  botanical  garden,  266; 
parks,  268;  street  railways,  296; 
council,  377,  379,  380 ;  administrative 
officials,  405,  407;  mayor,  97,  413, 
418,  421. 

Building  regulations :  in  ancient  Rome, 
13;  mediaeval  Germany,  30;  modern 
cities,  76,  175-180. 

Bureaux  de  bienfaisance,  183. 

Burgomaster,  411,  415,  418. 

Burials,  municipal,  309-310. 

Burnley,  305. 

Business  taxes,  346,  355. 

Buttrick  v.  Lowell,  143. 

Cadiz,  4,  9,  33. 

Cairo,  20. 

Calcutta,  135. 

California:  special  legislation  prohib- 
ited, 93;  municipal  home  rule,  93; 
state  board  of  health,  175;  school 
grants,  340. 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  148,  244. 

Camden,  N.J.,  209. 


Canada,  cities  in:  population,  121,  122; 
police,  140 ;  markets,  309. 

Canals,  in  Venice,  23. 

Cardiff,  161,  267,  298. 

Carthage,  4,  11,  227. 

Cassel,  221. 

Catania,  297. 

Cemeteries,  municipal,  309,  324,338,  351. 

Centimes  additionels,  341,  343,  344,  345. 

Central  control:  Roman  empire,  17; 
mediaeval  times,  34,45;  Great  Britain, 
66, 69 ;  United  States,  76,  78 ;  France, 
105,  107,  363,  366-368;  Prussia,  115; 
police,  140,  141;  charities,  70,  188; 
schools,  203;  loans,  333;  finance  ad- 
ministration, 363,  366-368;  appoint- 
ment of  mayors,  411. 

Centralization:  Roman  empire,  17; 
France,  25,  27,  40,  107;  Germany, 
114;  police,  138, 139;  education,  202; 
docks  and  harbors,  305. 

Central  Park,  265. 

Chaldea,  cities  of,  4. 

Charities,  public :  Athens,  7 ;  ancient 
Rome,  14;  mediaeval  cities,  23,  30; 
16th  to  18th  centuries,  37,  40;  Eng- 
land, 70, 182, 184, 187 ;  Germany,  183, 
187;  France,  183,  185;  Belgium,  186; 
Italy,  186;  Holland,  186;  United 
States,  188-191;  expenditures,  323, 
324,  325,  327,  329. 

Charity  organization  societies,  191. 

Charles  river,  244,  264. 

Charleston,  S.C.,  77,  78. 

Charlestown,  Mass.,  244. 

Charlestown,  W.Va.,  232. 

Charlottenberg,  293. 

Chelsea,  Mass.,  276. 

Chemnitz,  287,  382,  412. 

Chicago:  charters,  83,  84,  93;  popula- 
tion, 102;  competitive  examinations, 
99;  police,  90,  91,  133-135,  137;  fire 
brigade,  152,  153,  155,  156;  health 
department,  157,  165,  167,  168,  170, 
172,  174;  great  fire,  175;  building 
regulations,  178;  charities,  189-191; 
employment  bureaus,  192;  schools, 
201,  205,  209;  library,  219;  music, 
224;  street  pavements,  231,  233,  234, 
235;  abolition  of  grade  crossings, 
241;  tunnels,  245;  sewers,  248,  251; 
drainage  canal,  252 ;  scavenging,  260; 
baths,  261;  boulevards,  263;  parks, 
266,  268;  commissioner  of  works, 
268;  waterworks,  86,  88,  273;  light- 
ing, 285;  wharves,  307;  markets, 
309;  expenditures,  327;  revenue, 
337, 356;  finance  administration,  362; 


436 


INDEX 


council,  377, 378, 379, 383, 428 ;  admin- 
istrative officials,  400,  409;  mayor, 
413,  416,  418,  419,  421. 

Chicago  river,  245. 

Chile,  cities  of:  population,  122.  See 
also  South  America. 

Christiania,  154,  192,  223,  287. 

Cincinnati,  O. :  police,  100, 134, 137 ;  fire 
brigade,  152, 156;  health  department, 
167, 168, 170, 173-174 ;  building  regula- 
tions, 178 ;  charities,  189, 190 ;  schools, 
201,  205,  209;  library,  219;  street 
pavements,  233,  234;  bridges,  244; 
special  assessments,  254;  scaveng- 
ing, 260;  waterworks,  273;  street 
railways,  296;  debt  limit,  334;  or- 
ganization, 97,  377,  379,  398,  407,  413, 
421. 

Cities  of  antiquity,  3-18. 

City-states:  ancient  Greece,  5,  6,  8; 
Italy,  21;  Germany,  21;  low  coun- 
tries, 34. 

Civil  service  reform.  See  Competitive 
examinations. 

Clauses  acts,  66. 

Cleveland,  O. :  charters,  83, 84, 88 ;  police, 
133, 135, 137;  health  department,  166, 
167,  174;  building  regulations,  178; 
economic  regulation,  180;  charities, 
190;  schools,  201,  205,  209;  library, 
219;  street  pavements,  231,  233,  234; 
scavenging,  260;  park  board,  268; 
director  of  public  works,  269 ;  water- 
works, 273;  street  railways,  295; 
wharves,  307;  finance  administra- 
tion, 362;  council,  377,  379;  admin- 
istrative officials,  400,  405,  406,  407 ; 
mayor,  97,  413,  418. 

Cloaca  Maxima,  245. 

Close  corporations:  English  boroughs, 
47,  49;  in  America,  73,  78. 

Clyde,  river,  244,  245,  303. 

Cobblestones,  230. 

Coblenz,  242,  244. 

Colbert,  economic  measures  of,  38. 

Colleges,  211. 

Colleges,  municipal,  217. 

Cologne,  16,  28,  153,  192,  198,  210,  211, 
223,  235,  244,  251,  256,  287,  305,  310, 
332,  346,  413. 

Colonial  boroughs,  American,  72-77. 

Colorado,  liquor  licenses,  148. 

Colorado  Springs,  Col.,  253. 

Columbus,  O.,  155,  189,  234,  260,  377, 
379. 

Commissioners  on  English  municipal 
corporations,  56,  57. 

Committees,  council,  397,  400. 


Communes,  rise  of  the,  25,  26. 

Como,  283,  297. 

Competitive  examinations,  99,  409,  425. 

Comptroller,  361,  362,  365,  371,  401,  402, 
403,  425. 

Concord,  N.H.,  100. 

Connecticut,  liquor  licenses,  148. 

Constance,  27. 

Constantinople,  20. 

Constitutional  amendments,  proposed  in 
a  municipal  program,  423. 

Construction,  municipal,  254. 

Contractors :  ancient  cities,  6, 15 ;  street 
and  sewer  construction,  253,  254. 

Copenhagen,  154,  267,  276,  287,  329. 

Cordova,  20,  228. 

Corinth,  5, 11. 

Corporate  powers  of  a  municipality,  395. 

Corruption:  English  boroughs,  59; 
American  police,  147. 

Councils :  bicameral  system,  79,  80,  82, 
83,  98;  decline,  87,  89,  94;  continued 
importance  in  some  cities,  98 ;  control 
of  finances,  360,  363;  organization, 
376,  382;  powers  over  organization, 
383;  legislative  powers,  384-396; 
administrative  powers,  396-398 ;  pro- 
cedure, 398 ;  proposed  plan  of  organi- 
zation, 426 ;  arguments  for  powerful 
council,  427,  429 ;  abolition,  428. 

County  police,  England,  132. 

Court  of  Accounts,  366-368. 

Crefeld,  223,  267. 

Croton  aqueduct,  84,  273. 

Cumulative  voting,  British  school 
boards,  203,  381. 

Damascus,  4,  20. 

Danube,  river,  242,  244,  305. 

Danzig,  28,  36,  250,  305. 

Darmstadt,  346. 

Dazi  di  consumo,  344. 

Debt  limits,  334. 

Debts,  municipal,  327,  329,  330-334. 

Decatur,  111.,  285. 

Decentralization  in  France,  109,  110. 

Delaware,  mayor's  judicial  powers,  421. 

Deming,  Horace  E.,  423. 

Denmark,  cities  of :  population,  121, 122 ; 
savings  banks,  199;  organization, 
411. 

Denver,  Col.,  100,  135, 139, 156, 167, 181, 
190,  224,  235,  377,  379,  413. 

Derby,  Eng.,257. 

Des  Moines,  la.,  231,  233. 

Detective  system,  146. 

Detroit,  Mich.:  charters,  79,  82;  inde- 
pendent boards,  88;  police,  89,  100, 


INDEX 


437 


133,  135,  137 ;  fire  brigade,  152,  155, 
156 ;  health  department,  169, 170, 174 ; 
building  regulations,  178;  charities, 
189,  190;  allotments,  193;  schools, 
205,  209;  street  pavements,  231,  234; 
waterworks,  273 ;  lighting,  285 ;  street 
railways,  292;  expenditures,  321; 
debt  limit,  334;  finance  administra- 
tion, 362;  organization,  377,  400,  413, 
418. 

Dijon,  26,  162,  267. 

Disinfection  service,  160, 164, 171. 

Docks  and  harbors :  ancient  cities,  6,  8, 
9, 14 ;  mediaeval  cities,  23 ;  16th  to  17th 
centuries,  37,  39;  modern  cities,  75, 
302-307;  expenditures,  324 ;  revenue, 
338. 

Domestic  system  of  manufacturing,  in- 
fluence on  urban  development,  32. 

Doncaster,  336. 

Dordrecht,  28,  35,  251. 

Dortmund,  278. 

Dover,  Eng.,  299. 

Dresden :  population,  118 ;  fire  brigade, 
153;  charities,  187;  employment 
bureaus,  192;  loan  office,  195;  sav- 
ings bank,  198 ;  schools,  210, 211, 214 ; 
libraries,  221,  theatre,  223;  street 
pavements,  235;  bridges,  242,  244; 
sewers,  251,  253;  scavenging,  256; 
parks,  267;  waterworks,  278;  light- 
ing, 281,  282,  287;  burials,  310;  debt, 
332;  revenue,  338,  346,  347;  organi- 
zation, 378,  382,  399,  412. 

Dublin,  135, 179,  267,  283,  298,  305. 

Dubuque,  la.,  97,  244. 

Duisburg,  221,  244. 

Dusseldorf,  221,  256. 

Duke  of  York's  laws,  352. 

Duluth,  Minn.,  234,  284. 

Durand,  E.  D.,429. 

Dust  destroyers,  257. 

Eastbourne,  Eng.,  286. 

East  River,  243,  301. 

Economic  regulation:  mediaeval  cities, 
30;  English  boroughs,  46;  modern 
cities,  180-181. 

Edinburgh,  71, 179,  241,  267,  274. 

Education:  Athens,  7;  ancient  Rome, 
14;  mediaeval  cities,  31;  16th  cen- 
tury, 37;  modern  schools,  203-217; 
colleges,  217;  libraries,  217-221; 
museums,  221, 222 ;  music  and  drama, 
222,  223;  expenditures,  323,  324,  325, 
327,  329;  revenues,  338.  See  also 
Schools,  Universities,  Libraries,  and 
Museums. 


Egypt,  cities  of:  in  ancient  times,  3; 
modern  police,  138. 

Elbe,  river,  242,  244. 

Elberfeld,  36. 

Elections,  municipal:  separation  from 
national,  101;  councils,  381;  admin- 
istrative officials,  404 ;  mayors,  411. 

Electric  lighting,  285-287. 

Elevated  railroads,  294,  299. 

Elizabeth,  N.J.,  72  n.,  333. 

Elkhart,  Ind.,  139. 

Elmira,  N.Y.,  277. 

Eminent  domain,  power  of,  279,  288, 
299,  393. 

Employment  bureaus,  193. 

England .   See  Great  Britain  and  Ireland . 

Ephesus,  11. 

Epping  Forest,  264. 

Erganzungsteuer,  346. 

Erie,  Pa.,  219. 

Essen,  267. 

Essex  County,  N.  J.,  266. 

Estates,  municipal,  335-336. 

Euphrates,  river,  242. 

European  cities :  15th  to  18th  centuries, 
32-41 ;  building  regulations,  175, 177, 
178 ;  street  plans,  239.  See  also  under 
the  various  countries. 

Evansville,  Ind.,  234. 

Everett,  Mass.,  276. 

Executive  boards,  376,  377,  408. 

Exeter,  Eng.,  52.  -, 

Expenditures,  municipal,  317-329. 

Factory  system,  55. 

Fairmount  Park,  262. 

Fall  River,  Mass.,  100,  154,  279. 

Ferries,  301-302. 

Fiesole,  296. 

Filtration  of  water  supply,  277. 

Finance  administration,  municipal : 
United  States,  94,  98,  359-363; 
France,  363-368;  Italy,  368;  Ger- 
many, 368-369;  Great  Britain,  370. 

Finances,  municipal :  Athens,  7 ;  mediae- 
val cities,  23,  24 ;  England,  318,  322, 
323,  338,  347 ;  France,  319,  322,  341 ; 
Belgium,  319,  345;  Germany,  320, 
338,  345;  Italy,  320,  322,  325,  343; 
United  States,  80,  321,  324,  351;  ex- 
penditures, 317,  329;  debts,  330-334; 
revenues,  335-358 ;  administration, 
359-371. 

Fire  brigades :  ancient  Rome,  12 ;  medi- 
aeval cities,  30;  modern  develop- 
ment, 40,  84,  151,  155;  organization 
in  United  States,  156;  expenditures, 
323,  324,  327,  329. 


438 


INDEX 


Fire  insurance,  public,  150-151. 

Fire  prevention:  fire  insurance,  150- 
151;  fire  brigades,  151-156;  powers 
of  councils,  391. 

Firma  burgi,  43,  45,  348. 

Fiscal  systems,  municipal :  France,  341 ; 
Italy,  343;  Belgium,  345;  England, 
347 ;  United  States,  351-357. 

Fiume,  297. 

Florence,  21,  22,  23,  223,  240,  242,  274, 
296,297. 

Florida,  liquor  licenses,  148. 

Fontainebleau,  263. 

Food  inspection  and  analysis:  Great 
Britain,  161,  162 ;  United  States,  168, 
169. 

Fortifications:  mediaeval  cities,  23; 
Ghent,  37. 

France,  cities  of:  ancient  times,  11; 
mediaeval  times,  19,  20;  17th  cen- 
tury, 38;  before  the  Ke volution, 
103-104 ;  history  since  1789,  104-113 ; 
population,  108,  110,  112,  121,  122; 
police,  128,  140,  146;  fire  brigades, 
153,  156;  health  departments,  157, 
158,  162,  164,  174;  charities,  183,  185; 
loan  offices,  194,  195,  196;  savings 
banks,  198;  schools,  201,  202,  207, 
211,  213,  214;  libraries,  220;  muse- 
ums, 221 ;  theatres,  223 ;  sewers,  251 ; 
baths,  261;  parks,  267;  waterworks, 
278;  lighting,  287;  docks  and  har- 
bors, 305;  markets  and  abattoirs, 
307,  308;  expenditures,  319,  322; 
debts,  331,  332,  333;  revenues,  336, 
341;  finance  administration,  363; 
councils,  376,  378,  379,  380,  382,  383, 
397,  398;  administrative  officials, 
399,  404,  406,  408;  maires,  411,  412, 
414,  415,  417. 

Franchises,  municipal :  Athens,  6 ;  New 
York,  98;  waterworks,  280;  lighting 
plants,  289 ;  street  railways,  292,  294, 
295,  297;  others,  291;  revenue  from, 
336;  power  to  grant,  396;  proposed 
regulation,  423. 

Franchise  tax  law,  New  York,  355. 

Frankfort-on-the-Main,  28,  29,  117,  192, 
221,  223,  253,  267,  274,  278,  281,  282, 
283,  287,  298,  332,  346,  371,  413. 

Free  cities  in  Germany,  27. 

Freemen,  English  boroughs,  58. 

Freiburg,  278. 

French  municipal  history.  See  France, 
cities  of. 

Galesburg,  111.,  232. 
Games,  264. 


Garbage  cremators,  257,  258. 

Gas  meters,  inspectors  of,  180. 

Gasworks :  modern  cities,  281-285 ;  ex- 
penditures, 323;  revenues,  338,  351. 

Gateshead,  305. 

Gebuhren,  346. 

Gendarmerie,  128,  134, 140. 

General  municipal  laws :  Great  Britain 
61,  63,  386;  United  States,  87,  93, 
398;  France,  104,  107,  108,  109,  112; 
Prussia,  114,  115,  116;  proposed 
424-427. 

Geneva,  153,  192,  215,  223,  240,  267,  287. 

Genoa,  21,  240,  297. 

Georgia,  liquor  licenses,  148. 

Germanic  invasions,  19. 

Germany,  cities  of:  independence  from 
feudal  authority,  27;  decline,  33; 
19th  century,  114-120;  population, 
118,  121,  122;  police,  129,  134; 
fire  brigades,  153;  health  depart- 
ments, 157,  164,  169;  charities,  183, 
187 ;  employment  bureaus,  192 ;  allot- 
ments, 193;  loan  offices,  194,  195; 
savings  banks,  197,  198 ;  schools,  201, 
207, 209, 213 ;  libraries,  221 ;  museums, 
222 ;  theatres,  223 ;  street  pavements, 
235;  sewers,  251;  scavenging,  256; 
baths,  29,  260,  261;  parks,  263,  267; 
waterworks,  276,  278;  lighting,  283, 
287 ;  street  railways,  293,  296 ;  docks 
and  harbors,  305;  markets  and  abat- 
toirs, 307,  308;  cemeteries,  309;  ex- 
penditures, 320;  revenues,  337,  338, 
345 ;  finance  administration,  368,  369  ; 
councils,  376,  378,  379,  380,  382,  397, 
398 ;  administrative  officials,  399, 404, 
406,  408 ;  burgomasters,  411,  412,  415, 
418. 

Ghent,  29,  33,  35,  36,  154,  192,  217,  287, 
310. 

Gilds,  21,  32,  34,  44. 

Glasgow:  population,  68,  71;  fire  bri- 
gade, 152;  health  department,  159; 
vital  statistics,  160 ;  building  regula- 
tions, 176,  •  178,  179 ;  schools,  216 ; 
library,  220 ;  music,  223 ;  street  pave- 
ments, 229,  230;  street  plans,  240; 
bridges,  244;  underground  roads, 
245;  sewers,  247,  250,  253;  scaveng- 
ing, 257,  258;  baths,  260;  parks,  266; 
waterworks,  273,  278;  lighting,  282; 
telephones,  291 ;  street  railways,  293, 
299;  ferries,  301;  docks  and  harbors, 
303;  expenditures,  329;  revenue,  336. 
Goodnow,  Frank  J.,  423. 
Grade  crossings,  abolition  of,  241. 
Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  155,  285,  398. 


INDEX 


439 


Granite  block  pavement,  229,  233. 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  cities  of:  in 
the  Roman  empire,  11;  mediaeval 
times,  19,  42-49;  15th  to  18th  centu- 
ries, 49-54;  reform  of  the  corpora- 
tions, 55-63;  municipal  expansion, 
63-71;  population,  46,  52,  55,  58,  65, 
71, 121,  122;  police,  129-132,  137,  141, 
147;  fire  brigades,  153;  health  de- 
partments, 157,  158,  161,  171;  food 
analysis,  161,  162,  174;  poor  relief, 
182,  184,  187;  employment  bureaus, 
192;  allotments,  193;  pawnshops, 
196;  schools,  200,  201,  203,  207,  212, 
215;  libraries,  218,  220;  museums, 
222;  music,  223;  street  pavements, 
236;  street  plans,  240;  sewers,  250, 
253;  special  assessments,  254;  scav- 
enging, 256-258;  baths,  260;  parks, 
261,  263,  264,  266;  waterworks,  273, 
275,  278;  lighting,  282,  283,  284,  286; 
street  railways,  293,  297,  298,  300; 
ferries,  301 ;  docks  and  harbors,  302; 
markets,  307,  308;  cemeteries,  310; 
expenditures,  318,  322,  323;  debts, 
331,  332,  333;  revenues,  336,  337,  338, 
340,  341,  347,  351;  finance  adminis- 
tration, 370,  371;  councils,  375,  376, 
378,  379,  380,  382,  383,  385-387,  397; 
administrative  officials,  404,  405,  406, 
408;  mayors,  411,  412,  415,  417,  421. 

Greece,  cities  of :  ancient,  4-7 ;  popula- 
tion, 121,  122;  police,  138;  theatres, 
223;  docks  and  harbors,  305. 

Grenoble,  196. 

Groningen,  214. 

Growth  of  cities :  United  States,  80,  83, 
86, 95, 101 ;  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
46,  52,  55,  63,  65,  68,  71,  121,  122; 
France,  108,  110,  112,  121,  122;  Ger- 
many, 118, 121, 122 ;  Statistics,  121, 122. 

Guadalquivir,  river,  33. 

Guthrie,  George  W.,  423. 

Gymnasia,  209,  212. 

Hague,  The,  214,  277. 

Hamburg :  16th  century,  36 ;  population, 
118;  police,  147;  fire  insurance,  150; 
fire  brigade,  153 ;  health  department, 
165 ;  employment  bureaus,  192 ;  loan 
office,  195;  schools,  210,  211,  214; 
street  pavements,  235;  street  plans, 
240;  parks,  267;  waterworks,  277, 
278;  lighting,  287;  docks  and  harbors, 
305;  cemeteries,  310;  organization, 
378,  382. 

Hanover,  117,  150,  223,  251,  256,  282, 283, 
287,  332,  369,  412. 


Hanseatic  League,  28. 

Harbors.    See  Docks  and  harbors. 

Harlem,  214. 

Hartford,  Conn.,  78,  273. 

Hastings,  Eng.,  286. 

Haussmann,  Baron,  240. 

Havre,  162, 163,  213,  252,  363. 

Heads  of  departments,  399-410,  425. 

Health  departments:  development,  157- 
165;  abatement  of  nuisances,  166-168; 
food  inspection,  168,  169;  infectious 
diseases,  169-172;  vital  statistics, 
172 ;  organization,  175 ;  expenditures, 
324. 

Health  regulations,  390. 

Herculaneum,  227. 

Hesse,  savings  banks,  197. 

High  schools,  208-212. 

Highways,  the  city:  street  pavements, 
227-238;  street  plans,  238-241; 
bridges,  241-245. 

Hochfeld,  244. 

Holborn  viaduct,  240. 

Holland.    See  Netherlands. 

Holyoke,  Mass.,  97. 

Home  rule:  mediaeval  cities,  21,  28; 
France,  105;  United  States,  93,  99, 
424.  See  also  Self-government. 

Hong  Kong,  147. 

Hospitals :  mediaeval  cities,  31 ;  infec- 
tious diseases,  171 ;  France,  185 ; 
Italy,  186 ;  Great  Britain,  188 ;  United 
States,  190;  revenues,  338. 

Huddersfield,  298. 

Hudson,  N.Y.,  78,  277. 

Hudson,  river,  301. 

Hungary,  cities  of :  population,  121, 122 ; 
loan  offices,  195. 

Hyde  Park  (London) ,  261. 

Hyde  Park,  Mass.,  276. 

Illinois:  cities  in,  83;  special  legislation 
forbidden,  92,  93;  municipal  elec- 
tions, 101;  liquor  licenses,  148,  356; 
employment  bureaus,  192;  libraries, 
219 ;  municipal  lighting,  286 ;  organi- 
zation, 397,  414. 

Improvement  schemes,  178,  240,  241. 

Income  taxes,  346. 

Independent  boards :  England,  56, 63, 70, 
187,  203;  United  States,  88,  139,  205. 

Indiana:  state  police  boards,  100,  139; 
municipal  lighting,  286;  school 
grants,  340 ;  mayor's  judicial  powers, 
421. 

Indianapolis,  189, 190,  205,  206,  219,  260, 
292,  377,  401,  413. 

Infectious  diseases,  control  of,  169-172. 


440 


INDEX 


Iowa :  municipal  lighting,  286 ;  mayors' 
judicial  powers,  421. 

Ireland,  cities  oi.  See  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland. 

Irish  constabulary,  138. 

Italy,  cities  of:  ancient  times,  9,  11; 
mediaeval  times,  20;  decline  of,  33; 
population,  121, 122;  police,  140, 141 ; 
health  departments,  157,  158;  chari- 
ties, 186;  loan  offices,  193;  savings 
banks,  197,  198;  schools,  203,  210, 
215;  theatres,  223;  parks,  267; 
waterworks,  278;  lighting,  283,  287; 
street  railways.  296 ;  docks  and  har- 
bors, 305;  expenditures,  319,  322, 
325;  debts,  331,  332;  revenues,  336, 
343 ;  finance  administration,  368 ;  or- 
ganization, 378,  379,  380,  405,  411. 

Ithaca,  N.Y.,  96. 

Japan,  cities  of :  population,  122 ;  police, 

147 ;  lighting,  284 ;  expenditures,  320. 
Jardin  des  Plantes,  262,  264. 
Jersey  City,  167,  205,  232,  235,  266,  309, 

334,  413. 
Jerusalem,  227. 

Judges  appoint  school  boards,  205. 
Judicial  administration:    in  American 

colonial     boroughs,     74;      mayor's 

power,  421. 
Justices  of  the  peace,  England,  129. 

Kansas  City,  Mo.,  100,  139, 148, 167, 190, 

209,  231,  234,  295. 
Kansas,  police,  142. 
Karlsruhe,  197. 
Kentucky,  police,  142. 
Kew  gardens,  267. 
Kingston-upon-Hull,  48,  216,  299. 
Konigsberg,  115, 118. 
Kopton,  3. 

Laboratories,  municipal:  Paris,  163; 
American  cities,  170. 

Lands,  municipal,  335-336. 

La  Keynie,  39. 

Lawrence,  Mass.,  153,  253. 

Leamington,  Eng.,  253. 

Leeds:  17th  century,  52;  fire  brigade, 
153;  health  department,  161;  build- 
ing regulations,  179;  schools,  212, 
216;  libraries,  220;  street  plans, 
241;  sewers,  253;  scavenging,  257; 
parks,  262,  266 ;  lighting,  283;  street 
railways,  296,299;  organization,  378, 
400. 

Leghorn,  21. 


Legislative  functions,  in  American  co- 
lonial boroughs,  75. 

Leicester,  298. 

Leipzig:  mediaeval  times,  28;  popula- 
tion, 118 ;  fire  brigade,  153 ;  charities, 
187 ;  loan  office,  195 ;  savings  bank, 
198 ;  schools,  210,  211 ;  library,  221 ; 
street  pavements,  235 ;  bridges,  244 ; 
sewers,  253 ;  waterworks,  278 ;  light- 
ing, 281,  282,  287;  expenditures,  329; 
debt,  332 ;  revenue,  338,  346,  347 ;  or- 
ganization, 378,  382,  399,  412. 

Leon,  24. 

Leyden,  251. 

Liability  of  municipalities  for  manage- 
ment of  property,  395. 

Libraries:  ancient  Home,  14;  modern 
municipal,  217-221 ;  expenditures, 
323,  324. 

Licenses :  public  carriages,  180 ;  liquor, 
148,  358 ;  power  to  issue,  391. 

Lichtenfeld,  295. 

Liege,  217,  222,  298. 

Lighting  and  Watching  Act  of  1830,  64. 

Lighting,  public:  early  history,  16,  39, 
53,  75,  280,  281;  gas  lighting,  281- 
285 ;  electric  lighting,  285-287 ;  public 
aspects,  287-289;  franchise  terms, 
289;  expenditures,  323,  327,  329; 
revenues,  338. 

Lille,  26,  157,  213,  240,  261,  305,  363. 

Lincoln,  Neb.,  206,  274. 

Liquor  traffic,  control  of,  148,  358. 

Lisbon,  21,  33,  153,  223. 

Liverpool:  17th  century,  52;  popula- 
tion, 68, 71 ;  police,  132 ;  fire  brigade, 
153;  health  department,  157,  158, 
161;  building  regulations,  176,  179; 
schools,  216;  library,  218;  street 
pavements,  230;  street  plans,  241; 
underground  roads,  245 ;  sewage  dis- 
posal, 252;  municipal  construction, 
254;  scavenging,  257;  baths,  260; 
parks,  262,  266;  waterworks,  274, 
276;  lighting,  283;  street  railways, 
293, 299 ;  ferries,  301 ;  docks  and  har- 
bors, 304;  expenditures,  329;  reve- 
nue, 336 ;  organization,  378. 

Loan  offices,  193-196. 

Local  government  boards,  69, 158, 188, 
370,  387. 

Loch  Katrine,  274. 

London :  in  the  Roman  empire,  11 ;  17th 
century,  35,  51, 52, 53 ;  population,  46, 
52,  55,  68,  71;  police,  70,  130-134,137, 
139 ;  board  of  works,  70 ;  county  coun- 
cil, 71,  159,  179,  181,  254,  299;  school 
board,  71;  poor  law  unions,  71;  police 


INDEX 


441 


judges,  130;  fire  insurance,  150 ;  fire 
brigade,  152, 155 ;  health  department, 
158,  161;  building  regulations,  176; 
charities,  188;  library,  220;  street 
pavements,  228, 232, 236 ;  street  plans, 
240;  bridges,  242,  243;  underground 
roads,  245;  sewers,  246,  248,  249,  253; 
scavenging,  257;  baths,  260;  parks, 
261,  262,  264;  waterworks,  46,  49, 
272,  275,  277,  278;  lighting,  53,281, 
283;  street  railways,  293,  299;  ferries, 
301;  docks  and  harbors,  304;  mar- 
kets, 308;  expenditures,  327;  debt, 
332;  revenue,  336,  350,  357;  organiza- 
tion, 71,  378;  special  legislation,  387. 

Long  Island  City,  N.Y.,  96. 

Los  Angeles,  Gal.,  253,  275,  334. 

Louisiana,  state  board  of  health,  175. 

Louisville,  Ky.,  152,  167,  218,234,307, 
309,  334,  337,  356,  377,  380,  413,  421. 

Louvain,  217. 

Lowell,  Mass.,  97,  216,  277. 

Liibeck,  28,  29,  150,  278. 

Lyce'es,  211,  212. 

Lynn  woods,  266. 

Lyons :  in  the  Roman  empire,  11 ;  med- 
iaeval times,  26;  17th  century,  38; 
population,  113;  police,  139;  fire 
brigade,  153;  health  department, 
157;  charities,  186;  schools,  213; 
library,  220;  street  plans,  240; 
bridges,  242;  baths,  261;  expendi- 
tures, 329 ;  revenue,  343 ;  finance  ad- 
ministration, 363 ;  organization,  106, 
378,  399. 

Madrid:  fire  brigade,  152,  154;  public 
squares,  267;  expenditures,  329. 

Magdeburg,  28, 118, 195,  267,  332. 

Mainz,  28,  244,  305,  310,  346. 

Maires,  411,  412,  414,  415,  417. 

Maiden,  Mass.,  276. 

Malta,  147. 

Manchester,  Eng.,  17th  century,  52 ;  pop- 
ulation, 68,  71 ;  police,  132;  fire  bri- 
gade, 153;  health  department,  161; 
building  regulations,  179;  schools, 
216;  library,  218,  220;  art  school, 
222 ;  street  improvements,  241 ;  sew- 
ers, 250,  253 ;  baths,  266 ;  parks,  266 ; 
waterworks,  273,  274,  276;  lighting, 
281,  282;  ship  canal,  324;  markets, 
309;  expenditures,  329;  debt,  332; 
organization,  378,  400. 

Manchester,  N.H.,  100, 139. 

Mannheim,  221,  223. 

Marcel,  Eiienne,  26. 

Martchausste,  128. 


Markets,  public:  mediaeval  Germany, 
29 ;  English  boroughs,  46 ;  American 
colonial  boroughs,  75 ;  modern  cities, 
307-309;  expenditures,  323;  reve- 
nues, 338,  351. 

Marseilles  :  founding  of,  5 ;  in  the  Roman 
empire,  10,  11 ;  mediaeval  times,  21, 
25;  organization,  106;  population, 
113;  health  department,  157;  chari- 
ties, 186;  employment  bureau,  192; 
opera,  223 ;  baths,  261 ;  parks,  267 ; 
expenditures,  329;  revenue,  343; 
financial  administration,  363. 

Maryland,  police,  142. 

Massachusetts :  competitive  examina- 
tions, 99  ;  municipal  elections,  101 ; 
police,  142,  144;  liquor  licenses,  148, 
356;  food  adulteration,  168;  state 
board  of  health,  175;  schools,  200, 
216 ;  libraries,  218 ;  waterworks,  275, 
276;  municipal  lighting,  286;  gas  and 
electric  lighting  commission,  290; 
street  railways,  292,  296;  civil  ser- 
vice commission,  409. 

Mayor:  in  American  colonial  boroughs, 
73,  74 ;  development  of  American,  77, 
79, 81, 82,  84,  88,  93,  96,  97 ;  compara- 
tive study,  363,  411-421;  proposed 
authority,  425,  428. 

Meat  inspection,  163. 

Medford,  Mass.,  276. 

Mediaeval  cities,  19-31. 

Melbourne:  fire  brigade,  156;  water- 
works, 276 ;  street  railways,  298. 

Melrose,  Mass.,  276. 

Memphis,  3. 

Memphis,  Tenn.,  167,  218,  275,  307,  377. 

Mersey,  river,  304. 

Mersey  tunnel,  245. 

Merthyr  Tydvil,  Wales,  253. 

Metropolitan  asylums  board  (Eng.) ,  188. 

Metropolitan  board  of  works,  70,  179, 
248,  262. 

Metropolitan  boroughs,  71. 

Metropolitan  district  (Mass.) :  sewers, 
252;  parks,  264;  waterworks,  275, 
276. 

Metz,  16. 

Mexico,  cities  of:  population,  122; 
police,  140,  145. 

Mexico,  city  of:  police,  139;  lighting, 
284. 

Michigan:  police,  142;  liquor  licenses, 
148 ;  state  board  of  health,  175 ;  mu- 
nicipal lighting,  286;  bi-partisan 
boards,  408;  governor's  power  of 
removal,  414. 

Middlesex  Fells,  264. 


442 


INDEX 


Middleton,  Hugh,  272. 

Milan:  in  mediaeval  times,  22;  fire  bri- 
gade, 152;  charities,  186;  savings 
hank,  198;  theatre,  223;  street  pave- 
ments, 229;  street  improvements, 
240;  sewage  disposal,  252;  no  parks, 
267;  street  railways,  296,  298;  buri- 
als, 310. 

Militia,  municipal,  London  train  bands, 
52. 

Milwaukee:  first  charter,  83, 84;  charter 
of  1874,  93;  fire  brigade,  153;  health 
department,  167,  168;  charities,  190; 
schools,  205,  209;  art  collection,  222; 
street  pavements,  234 ;  special  assess- 
ments, 254;  wharves,  307;  organiza- 
tion, 377,  378,  409,  413. 

Minneapolis,  137, 155,  189,  190,  205,  222, 
231,  234,  235,  244,  266,  377,  379,  413, 
421. 

Minnesota:  municipal  home  rule,  99; 
liquor  licenses,  148,  356 ;  state  board 
of  health,  175;  municipal  lighting, 
286. 

Minority  representation,  381,  426. 

Mississippi,  river,  244. 

Missouri :  special  legislation  prohibited, 
93;  municipal  home  rule,  93;  liquor 
licenses,  148 ;  municipal  lighting,  286. 

Mobile,  Ala.,  250. 

Moldau,  river,  242. 

Mons,  214. 

Montpellier,  196. 

Monts  de  pittt,  193-196. 

Morality  police,  147. 

Moscow:  loan  office,  195;  sewers,  252; 
waterworks,  274. 

Mosel,  river,  242. 

Munich:  population,  118;  fire  brigade, 
153 ;  charities,  187 ;  employment  bu- 
reau, 192;  loan  office,  195;  savings 
bank,  198;  schools,  210,  211;  street 
pavements,  235;  sewers,  251,  253; 
scavenging,  256;  parks,  267,  water- 
works, 274,  278;  lighting,  283,  287; 
markets,  308 ;  expenditures,  320,  329 ; 
debt,  332 ;  revenue,  338,  346,  347 ;  or- 
ganization, 378,  399,  412. 

Municipal  activities :  public  health  and 
safety,  125-181;  charities  and  provi- 
dent institutions,  182-199;  education, 
200-224;  municipal  improvements, 
225-313. 

Municipal  corporations  acts:  England, 
61,  63,  386;  Prussia,  114,  115,  116; 
United  States,  87,  93,  398;  France, 
104,  107,  108,  109,  112;  proposed,  424, 
427. 


Municipal  improvements :  the  city  high- 
ways, 227-245;  sewers  and  sewage 
disposal,  245-255;  scavenging,  255- 
260;  public  baths,  260-261;  parks, 
261-266 ;  waterworks,  272-280 ;  public 
lighting,  280-291;  urban  transporta- 
tion, 291-302;  docks  and  harbors,  302- 
307 ;  markets  and  abattoirs,  307-309; 
cemeteries,  309-310 ;  expenditures, 
323,  324. 

Municipality,  the  Roman,  10. 

Municipal  ownership :  waterworks,  273- 
276;  gasworks,  282-284;  electric 
lighting,  285-287;  telephones,  291; 
street  railways,  297-299;  docks  and 
harbors,  302-307 ;  markets  and  abat- 
toirs, 307-309;  cemeteries,  309;  gen- 
eral discussion,  310-313. 

Municipal  property,  16,  335-336. 

Municipal  socialism,  Germany,  119. 

Museums  of  art  and  science,  221,  222. 

Music  and  drama,  222-225. 

Nahant,  Mass.,  276. 

Nancy,  162,  163,  197. 

Nantes,  157,  162,  363. 

Naples:  street  improvements,  240; 
waterworks,  274;  street  railways, 
297 ;  burials,  310. 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  78,  307. 

National  governments,  development, 
27,  32,  40,  49,  114. 

Nebraska:  police,  142;  liquor  licenses, 
356. 

Nervi,  297. 

Netherlands,  cities  of:  16th  century, 
33-37;  population,  121,  122;  police, 
140,  148 ;  charities,  186 ;  loan  offices, 
194;  schools,  213,  214;  museums, 
222;  parks,  267;  lighting,  283;  ceme- 
teries, 309;  organization,  378,  379, 
411,  412. 

Newark,  N.J.,  190,  201,  232,  234,  266, 
334,  413. 

New  Bedford,  Mass.,  216. 

Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  241,  257,  260,  266, 
287,  305,  336. 

New  England,  cities  in:  libraries,  218; 
commons,  262;  organization,  377. 

New  Haven,  Conn.,  78,  135,  190,  275, 
413. 

New  Jersey:  colonial  boroughs,  72; 
special  legislation  forbidden,  93; 
liquor  licenses,  148;  food  adultera- 
tion, 168;  subventions,  340;  munici- 
pal organization,  417. 

New  Orleans:  first  charter,  79;  com- 
petitive examinations,  99;  police, 


INDEX 


443 


137;  health  department,  166,  168, 
174;  charities,  190;  schools,  201,  205, 
209;  street  pavements,  231,  233; 
lack  of  sewers,  250 ;  scavenging,  260 ; 
parked  avenues,  266;  waterworks, 
275,  277 ;  ferries,  301 ;  wharves,  306 ; 
markets,  309 ;  revenue,  356 ;  organi- 
zation, 377,  379,  408,  409,  413,  417. 

Newport,  E.I.,  78,  139. 

New  South  Wales,  cities  of:  police, 
138,  147;  lighting,  284.  See  also 
Australia  and  Sydney. 

Newton,  Mass.,  276. 

New  York  City :  colonial  times,  72,  74, 
75;  charters,  82,  83,  88,  91;  popula- 
tion, 80,  86,  101 ;  politics,  80,  81,  101  ; 
police,  80,  132-134,  137,  145;  fire 
brigade,  152,  155, 156;  health  depart- 
ment, 157,  165,  167,  168,  169,  170, 171, 
173,  174;  building  regulations,  176, 
177,  179;  economic  regulation,  180; 
public  safety,  181;  charities,  190, 
191;  employment  bureau,  192; 
schools,  201,  205,  209;  libraries,  219; 
museums,  222;  music,  224;  street 
pavements,  230,  231,  232,  234,  235; 
street  plans,  239,  241;  bridges,  243, 
244 ;  underground  roads,  245 ;  sewers, 
247,  248,  251,  252;  special  assess- 
ments, 254;  scavenging,  258,  259; 
parks,  86,  262,  265;  waterworks,  84, 
273,  275;  lighting,  282;  street  rail- 
ways, 89,  292,  294,  295;  ferries,  301; 
docks,  306;  municipal  ownership, 
313;  expenditures,  80,  321,327;  debt, 
332,  334;  revenue,  336,  356;  finance 
administration,  94, 360, 362 ;  councils, 
378, 381, 398 ;  administrative  officials, 
400,  403,  405,  406,  408,  409;  mayor, 
96,  97,  413,  418,  420,  421;  state  com- 
missions, 89,  90,  404. 

New  York  State :  city  mayors,  81,  414 ; 
development  of  cities,  83;  police, 
142;  liquor  licenses,  148,  356;  food 
adulteration,  168 ;  charities,  188, 191; 
schools,  201,  203;  lighting,  291 ;  state 
grants,  340;  taxation,  353,  355,  357; 
civil  service  commissions,  409. 

Nice,  162, 163,  192,  223,  261,  297. 

Nineveh,  3. 

Norfolk,  Va.,  72,  78,  356. 

Norway,  cities  of:  population,  121,  122; 
liquor  traffic,  150;  fire  insurance, 
150;  schools,  212,  215;  lighting,  283; 
organization,  411. 

Norwich,  Eng.,  46,  52,  222,  266,  287. 

Nottingham,  52,  193,  216,  220,  222,  253, 
257,  266,  299. 


Nuisances,  abatement  of,  166. 
Nuremberg,  28,  29,  36. 

Oakland,  Cal.,  234. 

Obligatory  expenditure,  French  com- 
munes, 364. 

Obligatory  service,  120,  398. 

Octrois,  7,  24,  341,  343,  344,  345,  346. 

Odessa,  195. 

Offensive  trades,  regulation  of,  168. 

Ohio :  development  of  cities,  83 ;  special 
legislation,  85,  87;  liquor  licenses, 
148 ;  food  adulteration,  168 ;  employ- 
ment bureaus,  192 ;  municipal  light- 
ing, 286 ;  municipal  organization,  417. 

Obio,  river,  244. 

Oldham,  273. 

Oligarchic  government,  16, 27,  31, 47,  59. 

Omaha,  Neb.,  100,  206,  224,  231,  234,  275, 
309,  413. 

Omnibuses,  292. 

Opera  houses,  222,  223. 

Oporto,  153. 

Optional  expenditure,  of  French  com- 
munes, 365. 

Ordinance  power:  mediaeval  cities,  30; 
American  colonial  boroughs,  75; 
municipal  councils,  384-395;  admin- 
istrative officials,  409-410. 

Organization,  municipal:  Roman  cities, 
16;  mediaeval  cities,  21,  31;  Great 
Britain,  47,  61;  United  States,  73, 
78,  82,  87-89,  93,  94,  96-100,  174; 
France,  103-112;  Germany,  115-117; 
police,  136^143;  public  safety,  181; 
school  boards,  203-206 ;  libraries,  219 ; 
public  works,  268,  269;  the  council, 
375-398 ;  administrative  officials,  399- 
410;  the  mayor,  411-421;  proposed 
plans,  422-431. 

Outdoor  relief,  188, 190. 

Oxford,  272,  305. 

Padua,  283. 

Palermo,  297. 

Paphos,  4. 

Paris :  mediaeval  times,  26 ;  population, 
38,  113;  police,  39,  128,  134,  139,  146; 
fire  brigade,  152,  155,  156;  health 
department,  157, 162, 163, 174 ;  build- 
ing regulations,  177, 179;  charities, 
183,  185,  186;  allotments,  193;  loan 
office,  194,  195,  196;  savings  bank, 
198;  schools,  213;  libraries,  220; 
theatres,  223;  street  pavements,  228, 
232,235;  street  plans,  238, 240;  sewers, 
245,  247,  249,  253;  scavenging,  255, 
256;  baths,  261;  parks,  262,  263; 


444 


INDEX 


waterworks,  273,  274,  278 ;  lighting, 
39, 280,  282, 285, 289 ;  omnibuses,  292 ; 
street  railways,  293;  markets,  307; 
expenditures,  319,  327;  debt,  332; 
revenue,  342,  343;  finance  adminis- 
tration, 3G3;  organization,  106,  110, 
112,  378,  398,  399,  414. 

Parks:  in  ancient  Rome,  13;  mediaeval 
Brussels,  37;  modern  cities,  261-268; 
administration,  208;  expenditures, 
323,  324,  327,  329. 

Parliament,  representation  of  boroughs 
in,  45,  50,  51,  56. 

Paterson,  N.J.,  172,  275. 

Pau,  163. 

Pa  via,  242. 

Paving.    See  Street  pavements. 

Pawnshops,  193-196. 

Pawtucket,  E.I.,  253,  405. 

Pennsylvania :  colonial  boroughs,  72  ; 
special  legislation  forbidden,  93; 
liquor  licenses,  148 ;  municipal  light- 
ing, 286 ;  street  railways,  296 ;  organ- 
ization, 397. 

Pensions,  U.S.  federal  government,  189. 

Peoria,  111.,  232,  234. 

Personalty  assessments,  354,  361. 

Perth  Amboy,  N.J.,  72. 

Perugia,  297. 

Philadelphia  :  in  colonial  times,  72-76; 
charters,  79,  82,  88;  population,  86, 
101 ;  police,  132-134, 137 ;  fire  brigade, 
152, 155, 156 ;  health  department,  157, 
167,  174;  director  of  public  safety, 
181;  charities,  189,  190;  schools,  201, 
205,  209;  libraries,  219;  art  museum, 
222;  music,  224;  street  pavements, 
230,  231,  232,  233,  234,  296;  street 
plans,  238 ;  bridges,  244 ;  sewers,  250, 
251;  special  assessments,  254;  scav- 
enging, 260;  parks,  86,  262,  266;  di- 
rector of  public  works,  269;  water- 
works, 273;  lighting,  282,  284,  289; 
street  railways,  296;  wharves,  306; 
expenditures,  329;  debt,  332;  reve- 
nue, 356;  councils,  377,  378,  379;  ad- 
ministrative officials,  405;  mayor, 
413,  417,  419,  420. 

Phoecea,  5. 

Piedmont,  158. 

Piraeus,  6,  227. 

Pisa,  21. 

Pittsburg:  charters,  80, 93;  fire,  brigade, 
155;  director  of  public  safety,  181; 
charities,  190 ;  schools,  205, 209 ;  street 
pavements,  233,  234;  bridges,  244; 
scavenging,  260;  botanical  garden, 
266 ;  wharves,  307 ;  organization,  397. 


Plauen,  287. 

Playgrounds,  261-268. 

Plural  voting,  66,  69. 

Plymouth,  Eng.,  272, 299,  305. 

Podesta,  22,  25. 

Police :  ancient  Rome,  12 ;  mediaeval  cit- 
ies, 23,  30;  Paris,  39,  128,  134,  139, 
146  ;  London,  53,  54,  70,  130-132,  134, 
139,  146;  history,  127-134;  ratio  to 
population,  135;  organization,  136; 
police  boards,  137 ;  state  police,  138- 
140;  state  control,  140-141, 144 ;  state 
agents  in  United  States,  142,  143; 
duties  of,  144-149;  corruption,  147; 
expenditure,  323,  324,  325,  327, 
329 

Police  judges,  128,  130,  142,  405. 

Police  regulation,  30,  75,  388-390. 

Politics,  in  United  States  municipal  gov- 
ernment, 81,  91,  92,  407. 

Pompeii,  227. 

Poor  Law  Amendment  Act,  184. 

Poor  relief.    See  Charities. 

Population.    See  Growth  of  cities. 

Port  Rush,  295. 

Portsmouth,  Eng.,  216,  305. 

Portugal,  cities  of:  16th  century,  33; 
population,  121, 122 ;  police,  140. 

Posen,  253. 

Postal  service,  municipal,  30. 

Prague,  154,  195,  198,  242,  244,  251,  261, 
283,  299,  301. 

Prefects:  control  over  municipal 
finances,  363,  365. 

Prestations,  341,  344,  345. 

Preston,  Eng.,  257,  287. 

Private  Bills:  British,  387.  See  also 
Special  Legislation. 

Private  improvements,  254,  351.  See 
also  Special  Assessments. 

Procedure  of  municipal  councils,  398. 

Program,  A  Municipal,  423-427. 

Property,  municipal.  See  Lands,  mu- 
nicipal. 

Property  qualifications,  62,  382. 

Property  rights  of  municipalities,  394, 
395. 

Proportional  representation,  382,  424, 
426. 

Prospect  Park,  265. 

Providence,  R.I.,  190,  201,  205,  209,  218, 
223,  234,  261,  277,  296,  309,  377,  379, 
412,  419. 

Provident  institutions :  employment  bu- 
reaus, 192;  allotments,  193;  public 
loan  offices,  193-196 ;  savings  banks, 
196-199. 

Provisional  Order  Acts,  387. 


INDEX 


445 


Prussia,  cities  of:  population,  118,  121; 
police,  134,  139,  141;  health  depart- 
ments, 164, 174 ;  savings  banks,  197 ; 
schools,  201, 203,  207,  209,  213 ;  water- 
works, 276;  debts,  33?;  revenues, 
336,  345,  346;  suffrage,  382;  organi- 
zation, 115-117,  379,  382,  385, 399, 405, 
406. 

Public  Health  Acts,  English,  66,  69,  349, 
386. 

Public  health  and  safety :  police  admin- 
istration, 125-149;  protection  from 
fire,  149-157;  health  departments, 
157-175;  building  departments,  175- 
180;  economic  regulation,  180;  ad- 
ministrative organization,  181. 

Public  squares :  ancient  Rome,  13  ;  16th 
century,  36 ;  modern  cities,  267. 

.Public  works.  See  Municipal  improve- 
ments. 

Quarantine,  170. 
Quincy,  Josiah,  82. 
Quincy,  Josiah,  Jr.,  217. 
Quincy,  Mass.,  97,  276. 

Rates,  347,  348,  351. 
Reading,  Eng.,  304. 
Reading,  Pa.,  155. 
Receveur,  municipal,  365. 
Recreation  piers,  265. 
Reformation,  influence  on  municipal  af- 
fairs, 37, 182. 
Reform  of  the  English  corporations,  54- 

62. 

Regensburg,  27,  242. 
Regierungsprasident,  369. 
Removal,  power  of,  414,  417,  419,  426. 
Revenues,  municipal:  ancient  cities,  6, 

16;    commercial    revenue,    335-338; 

subventions,  339-341 ;  fiscal  systems, 

341-358. 

Revere,  Mass.,  264,  276. 
Rheims,  26, 162,  163,  192,  213,  221,  261. 
Rhine,  river,  244. 
Rhode  Island,  libraries,  218. 
Rhodes,  4,  6,  9. 
Rhone,  river,  242. 
Rialto,  bridge  of  the,  242. 
Richardson,  Charles,  423. 
Richmond,  Va.,  73,  93,  94,  190,  284,  295, 

296,  413. 

Riga,  36,  154,  195, 199,  252,  302. 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  139. 
Rochester,  N.Y.,  97,  137,  206,  234,  309, 

377,  379,  405,  420. 
Homan  Empire,  cities  of  the,  9-18. 


Rome:  ancient,  11-15,  127,  227,  242; 
building  regulations,  177;  charities, 
186;  loan  office,  196;  theatre,  223; 
street  improvements,  240;  sewers, 
252;  baths,  13,  261;  parks,  267; 
waterworks,  12, 274 ;  street  railways, 
297;  burials,  310;  expenditures,  320, 
329. 

Rotterdam,  35,  153,  277,  283,  287,  301. 

Roubaix,  153,  261,  267,  305,  363. 

Rouen,  157, 192,  221,  240,  261,  363. 

Rowe,  L.  S.,  423. 

Rugby,  Eng.,  253. 

Russia,  cities  of:  population,  121,122; 
police,  136-139;  loan  offices,  195; 
schools,  202;  theatres,  223;  docks 
and  harbors,  305 ;  revenues,  335. 

St.-^tienne,  162,  163,  192,  261,  363. 

St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  100,  139,  155,  235,  266, 
275. 

St.  Louis:  charters,  82,  93;  police,  100, 
133,  137;  population,  102;  liquor 
licenses,  148;  health  department, 
166,  167,  174;  building  regulations, 
178;  charities,  190;  schools,  201,  205, 
206,  209;  music,  224;  street  pave- 
ments, 231,  233,  234,  235;  bridges, 
244;  sewers,  250;  special  assess- 
ments, 254;  scavenging,  260;  parks, 
268;  board  of  public  improvements, 
269;  waterworks,  273;  ferries,  301; 
wharves,  306;  expenditures,  329; 
revenue,  356;  council,  377,  378,  379, 
380;  administrative  officials,  402, 408; 
mayor,  413,  418,  421. 

St.  Pancras  (London) ,  130,  286. 

St.  Paul,  Minn.,  152,  155,  156,  169,  170, 
190,  205,  231,  234,  235,  244,  266,  307, 
334,  377,  379. 

St.  Petersburg :  fire  brigade,  152 ;  sewers, 
252;  ferries,  301. 

Salaries:  members  of  councils,  398; 
administrative  officials,  405 ;  mayors, 
413. 

Salford,  161,  216,  253,  257,  260,  267,  276. 

Salt  Lake  City,  413. 

Salzburg,  27. 

San  Francisco :  state  police  board,  100, 
139 ;  liquor  licenses,  148 ;  health  de- 
partment, 168;  employment  bureau, 
192;  schools,  205,  209;  street  pave- 
ments, 231,  233,  234;  waterworks, 
275;  docks,  306;  markets,  309; 
organization,  377,  379,  413,  421. 

Sargon,  227. 

Savannah,  Ga.,  79,  205,  356. 

Savings  banks,  196-199. 


446 


INDEX 


Saxony,  cities  of:  organization,  117, 
379,  412 ;  population,  121 ;  fire  insur- 
ance, 150;  schools,  210, 213 ;  finances, 
320,346. 

Scavenging,  12,  46,  255-260. 

Scheldt,  river,  35. 

Schleswig-Holstein,  369. 

School  boards,  independent  :  Great 
Britain,  203,  381 ;  United  States,  205. 

Schools:  elementary,  31,  70,  203-207; 
high  schools  and  academies,  208-212 ; 
technical  schools,  213-217 ;  powers  of 
municipal  councils,  393.  See  also 
Education. 

Schuylkill,  river,  244. 

Scot  and  lot,  348. 

Scotland :  organization,  61, 376 ;  schools, 
200,  212;  charities,  187.  See  also 
Great  Britain,  Glasgow,  and  Edin- 
burgh. 

Scranton,  Pa.,  154,  155,  209,  235,  275, 
276,  397. 

Seattle,  Wash.,  413. 

Secondary  schools:  high  schools  and 
academies,  208-212 ;  technical  schools, 
212-217. 

Seine,  river,  38,  242,  249. 

Self-government:  mediaeval  cities,  21, 
28;  United  States,  93,  99;  France, 
105;  police,  142;  health  depart- 
ments, 174;  charities,  187,  189; 
schools,  203. 

Seville,  33. 

Sewers :  ancient  Rome,  12 ;  London,  53, 
246, 248 ;  Paris,  245,  247,  249 ;  United 
States,  75,  247,  250 ;  modern  systems, 
245-255 ;  final  disposal,  248-250,  252- 
253;  construction  by  contract,  253; 
special  assessments,  254;  expendi- 
tures, 323,  324,  327,  329. 

Shaw,  Albert,  423,  429. 

Sheffield,  52,  161,  216,  236,  253,  267,  273, 
283,  293,  299,  309. 

Sidon,  4. 

Sienna,  229. 

Silesia,  fire  insurance,  150. 

Single-headed  departments :  police,  137 ; 
schools,  205,  407 ;  public  works,  268 ; 
general  view,  406. 

Sinking  funds,  336. 

Slaughter-houses,  307-309,  323. 

Snow  removal,  259. 

Somerville,  Mass.,  148,  276. 

South  Africa,  police,  138. 

South  America,  cities  of:  population, 
122;  police,  138,  140;  loan  offices, 
196 ;  markets,  309. 

Southampton,  272. 


South  Bend,  Ind.,  139. 

South  Carolina,  powers  of  municipali- 
ties, 395. 

South  Framingham,  Mass.,  253. 

South  Shields,  305. 

Spain,  cities  of :  mediaeval  times,  20,  24; 
after  1500,  33;  population,  121,  122; 
police,  140 ;  loan  offices,  196 ;  savings 
banks,  197;  organization,  378,  379, 
411. 

Sparta,  5. 

Special  assessments,  338,  342,  344,  345, 
357,  358,  393. 

Special  legislation  :  Great  Britain,  55, 
63,  387;  United  States,  85,  87, 93, 100, 
409;  constitutional  prohibitions,  87, 
93,  99. 

Speedway,  265. 

Spezia,  283,  297. 

Spoils  system,  80,  81,  94,  99,  312,  407. 

Sports,  264. 

Spree,  river,  244. 

Springfield,  Mass.,  93,  222. 

Springfield,  O.,  153. 

State  boards  of  health,  175. 

State  commissions,  89, 100, 139,  157, 174, 
401,404. 

State  legislatures,  influence  of,  in  mu- 
nicipal government,  75,  76,  77,  85, 
87,  89. 

Statistical  tables :  urban  population, 
121,  122 ;  vital  statistics,  173 ;  schools, 
207,  209-212 ;  street  pavements,  236 ; 
street  cleaning,  259 ;  municipal  light- 
ing, 284,  286 ;  markets,  308 ;  expendi- 
tures, 318-329 ;  debts,  331,  332 ;  reve- 
nues, 338,  342,  343,  344,  346,  347,  351, 
354,  358. 

Statistics,  official,  362,  371. 

Stettin,  150. 

Steubenville,  O.,  232. 

Stockholm,  154,  261,  283,  287. 

Strand,  the  (London),  228. 

Strasburg,  28,  256. 

Street  cleaning,  12,  46,  255-260. 

Street  lighting.    See  Lighting,  public. 

Street  pavements :  ancient  cities,  12, 16, 
227 ;  Paris,  26,  39, 228,  236  ;  mediaeval 
cities,  29,  36 ;  London,  50,  53,  228,  229, 
232,  236 ;  United  States,  75,  230,  233- 
235;  other  countries,  232,  235,  236; 
comparative  merits,  236-237;  con- 
struction by  contract,  253;  special 
assessments,  254;  expenditure,  323, 
324,  327,  329. 

Street  plans:  ancient  cities,  6,  8,  13; 
mediseval  cities,  30;  London,  50,  53; 
modern  cities,  238-241. 


INDEX 


447 


Street  railways:  development,  69,  89, 
292-295;  present  systems,  295-299; 
public  aspects,  299-300;  revenues, 
338. 

Streets  and  highways,  powers  of  munic- 
ipal councils,  393. 

Stuttgart,  412. 

Subventions,  139,  202,  203,  339-341,  351. 

Subways,  274-275. 

Suffrage,  municipal :  Great  Britain,  62 ; 
United  States,  73,  84;  France,  108, 
109 ;  Prussia,  116,  382 ;  Austria,  382. 

Superior,  Wis.,  234. 

Suppression  of  nuisances,  390. 

Susa,  4. 

Susquehanna,  river,  276. 

Swampscott,  Mass.,  276. 

Swansea,  161,  305. 

Sweden,  cities  of :  population,  121,  122. 

Switzerland,  cities  of:  loan  offices,  196; 
savings  banks,  199;  schools,  215; 
museums,  221;  lighting,  283;  street 
railways,  299;  proportional  repre- 
sentation, 382 ;  organization,  378, 411. 

Sydney,  N.S.W. :  police,  138;  fire  bri- 
gade, 156 ;  waterworks,  276 ;  markets, 
309. 

Syndic,  411. 

Syracuse,  ancient,  5. 

Syracuse,  N.Y.,  96,  97, 137,  190,  224,  235, 
377,  379,  405,  420. 

Taunton,  Mass.,  253. 

Taxation :  United  States,  76,  84,  85,  321, 
351-357,  393;  Great  Britain,  43,  62, 
318,  347-351;  France,  104,  341-343; 
Italy,  343,  344;  Belgium,  345;  Ger- 
many, 320,  345-347. 

Technical  schools,  213-217. 

Telegraph,  fire  alarm,  and  police,  291. 

Telephones,  291. 

Tenement  houses:  regulation,  176;  mu- 
nicipal ownership,  178,  338. 

Tennessee,  organization,  411. 

Term  of  service :  members  of  councils, 
379;  administrative  officials,  406; 
mayors,  412. 

Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  139. 

Texas,  special  legislation  forbidden,  93. 

Thames  Conservancy  Board,  304. 

Thames,  river,  242,  245,  246,  248,  301, 
304. 

Theatres,  municipal,  222,  223. 

Thebes,  3,  5,  227. 

Thirty  Years'  War,  37. 

Three-class  system  of  voting:  Prussia, 
116,  382 ;  Austria,  382.] 

Tiber,  river,  242. 


Ticino,  river,  242. 

Tokio :  police,  139 ;  expenditures,  320. 

Toledo,  O.,  190,  205,  206,  284. 

Tolls,  244. 

Toronto,  295,  298. 

Toulon,  267,  301. 

Toulouse,  38,  157, 163,  240,  363. 

Town  meetings,  76. 

Trade  schools,  213,  214,  216. 

Trade  taxes,  346,  355. 

Tramways,  69,  89,  292-300. 

Transportation,  urban:    early  history, 

291-292;    street    railways,    292-500; 

ferries,  301-302. 
Trenton,  N.J.,  72. 
Trieste,  154,  283,  297. 
Troy,  N.Y.,  97,  135,  137,  377,  379,  405, 

420. 

Troyes,  157,  162. 
Turin,  229, 297. 
Tweed  ring,  93,  322. 
Tyre,  4. 

Underground  roads,  274-275. 

Uniform  municipal  accounts:  need  of, 
362 ;  proposed  requirement,  424. 

United  States,  cities  in:  colonial  period, 
72-77;  19th  century  development, 
78-102;  population,  80,  86,  95,  101, 
121, 122 ;  police,  132-134, 137, 147 ;  fire 
brigades,  151, 154-157 ;  health  depart- 
ments, 157,  165,  169,  170,  171,  174; 
building  regulations,  175,  176,  177; 
charities,  188-191;  employment  bu- 
reaus, 192;  allotments,  193;  pawn- 
shops, 196;  savings  banks,  199; 
schools,  201,  203-209,  216;  libraries, 
217-219;  museums,  222;  music,  223, 
224 ;  street  pavements,  233-235 ;  street 
plans,  238 ;  street  improvements,  241 ; 
sewers,  247,  248,  250,  251,  252,  253; 
special  assessments,  254,  357;  scav- 
enging, 258-260;  baths,  261;  parks, 
262,  263,  265,  266;  waterworks,  273, 
275,  278;  lighting,  282,  284,  285,  286; 
street  railways,  292,  294-296,  298; 
docks  and  harbors,  305-307 ;  markets 
and  abattoirs,  307,  309;  cemeteries, 
310;  expenditures,  321,  322,  325; 
debts,  331,  332,  333;  revenues,  336, 
337,  338,  351-358;  finance  adminis- 
tration, 359-363;  councils,  376,  377, 
378,  379,  380,  382,  383,  384,  387-396, 
398;  administrative  officials,  400,  404, 
406;  mayors,  411,  412,  416,  418,  421.  ' 

Universities,  municipal,  217. 

Utica,  N.Y.,  96,  234. 

Utrecht,  214. 


448 


INDEX 


Vaccination,  169. 

Varick,  Richard,  413. 

Venice,  21,  22,  242,  301. 

Verona,  16,  229. 

Versailles,  157,  263. 

Veto  power  of  American  mayors,  79,  88, 
416,  425,  430. 

Vice,  control  of,  147. 

Vicenza,  283. 

Vienna :  in  the  Roman  empire,  11 ;  medi- 
aeval times,  27,  29,  30;  police,  134, 
139 ;  fire  brigade,  152, 154 ;  loan  office, 
195;  savings  bank,  198;  bridges,  244; 
sewage  disposal,  252;  baths,  261; 
parks,  267  ;  waterworks,  274 ;  light- 
ing, 281,  282;  street  railways,  293; 
expenditures,  320;  revenue,  335;  or- 
ganization, 378. 

Vincennes,  Ind.,  285. 

Virginia:  colonial  boroughs,  72;  spe- 
cial legislation  forbidden,  87;  state 
board  of  health,  175. 

Vital  statistics,  160,  172,  173. 

Wabash,  Ind.,  285. 

Wandsworth  (London),  257. 

Waring,  George  E.,  Jr.,  256,  258. 

Warsaw,  154. 

Washington,  B.C.:  police,  135,  139; 
liquor  licenses,  148;  charities,  190; 
schools,  209;  libraries,  219;  street 
pavements,  232,  234, 235 ;  street  plans, 
238;  sewers,  251;  scavenging,  260; 
parks,  266 ;  street  railways,  295. 

Water  supply :  ancient  cities,  6, 12, 16 ; 
mediaeval  cities,  29;  London,  46,  50, 
272,  275;  Paris,  39,  273,  274;  New 


York,  84,  273 ;  modern  systems,  272- 

278;  public  aspects,  279;  franchises, 

280;    expenditures,    323,    327,    329; 

revenues,  338,  351,  358. 
Watertown,  Mass.,  276. 
Weights,  sealer  of,  180,  401,  402,  404. 
West  Ham,  216,  304. 
Westminster  (London),  281. 
Wharves,  302-307. 
Wheeling,  W.Va.,  232,  244,  284. 
Whitechapel  (London) ,  257. 
Wiesbaden,  221. 
Wilkesbarre,  Pa.,  276. 
Wilmington,  Del.,  155,  413. 
V/inthrop,  Mass.,  276. 
Wisconsin:    special  legislation  prohib* 

ited,  99 ;  liquor  licenses,  148. 
Wolverhampton,  274. 
Wood  pavements,  230,  234. 
Woodruff,  Clinton  Rogers,  423. 
Woolwich  (London) ,  301. 
Worcester,  Eng.,  52. 
Worcester,  Mass.,  154, 172,  209,  224, 253, 

261,  273,  290. 
Works  Committee  of  London  County 

Council,  254. 
Wiirttemberg,    cities  of:    police,    138; 

fire  insurance,  150;  schools,  210. 

Yokohama,  284. 
Yonkers,  N.Y.,  261. 
York,  11,  46,  52. 
Ypres,  37. 

Zanesville,  O.,  232. 
Zoological  parks,  263,  265. 
Zurich,  27,  150,  215,  277,  278,  332. 


THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  MUNICIPALITIES 

By  DORMAN  B.  EATON 
Cloth.    8vo.    $4.00  net 

"  Mr  Eaton  has  in  this  volume  provided  us  with  the  best  systematic  treatise 
that  is  available  for  the  American  student,  law-maker,  or  municipal  reformer, 
upon  the  principles  that  should  be  observed  in  the  framing  of  a  city  charter, 
and  upon  the  position  of  the  American  city  in  the  state,  of  which  it  is  one  of 
the  minor  jurisdictions.  Mr.  Eaton,  more  than  any  other  man,  has  identified 
himself  with  the  great  cause  of  an  efficient,  non-partisan  civil  service  in  this 
country  ;  and  he  has  been  a  life-long  student  of  public  administration.  As  a 
lawyer  and  public  official  in  times  past  he  has  had  much  practical  experience 
both  with  the  drafting  of  administrative  laws  and  with  their  practical  working. 
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